Dashboards vs. Reports: When to choose one or the other?

            Dashboards and reports are essential tools to enable data-driven decisions for any business. With them it is possible to analyze and visualize data, transforming it into understandable information.

         Whereas reports are usually focused on a single topic, having a greater granularity and detail, dashboards present the most important information related to the performance of the business or business area/department and they should revolve around a central question – what is going on? -. Reports, for example, can provide a more detailed view of the information presented on a dashboard.

So, dashboards offer a visual big picture containing generally metrics and KPIs (key performance indicators), with the goal of being concise and clear in the way they show data in a single screen - just like the panel that lives behind car’s steering wheel where we can check how much fuel we still have to travel or the oil temperature - , it is a visual representation of the most crucial data -. They can use graphs or tables from many reports to explore the achievement of business objectives.

Image from: https://ctrlsolucoes.com.br/drs2023/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/painel-de-carro-com-luzes-acessas.png

In contrast, reports can be used to present data that cannot be directly related to business performance, they are static because referent to a specific duration/date (historic data) – like a snapshot in time - and contain data in text and table form; sometimes, reports can include basic graphs and charts, but they are mostly focused in highlighting specific raw numbers or data sets.

Dashboards are dynamic exploring data over time, being updated in real time – here should be underlined the possibility of manipulating and interacting with data by the users -, without an expiry date, through graphs, some simple (very simple) tables and “only” numbers.  

If we need to support executives and managers in decision making and/or everyday analytics or BI needs, dashboards will be the best choice. However, if we need an in-depth analysis, a high-level view of a specific aspect over a specific (and finite) time too, to various stakeholders, reports will be the best option.

In essence, neither dashboards are best than reports nor reports are best than dashboards. Both are useful, important, complementary, and choosing between them always depends on the context: who needs that data? What do they need to know?