When so many data dashboards offer few satisfying answers, we might wonder why local leaders default to building them again, and again, and again. Is it too late to give dashboards a new purpose?
I just read this paper last night on "Indicators" that relates a lot to dashboards. Focusing on fixed metrics can never fully track a complex system like a city. The paper recommends a small number high level indicators that create a shared sense of direction, mid level indicators for tracking policy and program, and then indicators that people can respond to in their everyday choices (they use weather and traffic as examples). Even with these indicators/metrics, you still really need to understand the local population and how they'll react to them.
I just read this paper last night on "Indicators" that relates a lot to dashboards. Focusing on fixed metrics can never fully track a complex system like a city. The paper recommends a small number high level indicators that create a shared sense of direction, mid level indicators for tracking policy and program, and then indicators that people can respond to in their everyday choices (they use weather and traffic as examples). Even with these indicators/metrics, you still really need to understand the local population and how they'll react to them.
http://reconnectingamerica.org/assets/PDFs/IndicatorsForSustainableCommunityUsingComplexityTheory.pdf
This is great, thanks Matt!