定義 Excel 儀錶盤和報告

在 Microsoft Excel 2007 中，交替使用報表和儀表板並不困難。通常，報告被稱為儀表板只是因為它們包含一些圖表。同樣，許多儀表板也被稱為報告。所有這些看起來都像是語義，但它有助於清除 Excel 空氣並了解被認為是報告和儀表板的核心屬性。

定義報告

報告可能是商業智能最常見的應用。甲報告可以被描述為包含用於讀取或查看數據的文檔。它可以像數據表一樣簡單，也可以像帶有交互式鑽取的小計視圖一樣複雜，類似於 Excel 的小計功能。

報告的關鍵屬性是它不會引導讀者得出預定義的結論。儘管報告可以包括分析、聚合甚至圖表，但報告通常允許最終用戶將自己的判斷和分析應用於數據。

為了闡明這個概念，圖 1 顯示了一個報告示例。該報告按時期顯示了國家公園過夜遊客統計數據。儘管這些數據很有用，但很明顯這份報告並沒有引導讀者進行任何預定義的判斷或分析；它只是呈現聚合數據。

定義 Excel 儀錶盤和報告

圖 1：報告提供供查看的數據，但不會引導讀者得出結論。

定義儀表板

一個儀表盤是一個可視化界面，可在一目了然的意見納入相關的特定的目標或業務流程的關鍵措施。儀表板具有三個主要屬性：

儀表板本質上通常是圖形化的，提供有助於將注意力集中在關鍵趨勢、比較和異常上的可視化。

儀錶盤通常只顯示與儀錶盤目標相關的數據。

由於儀表板是為特定目的或目標而設計的，因此它們固有地包含預定義的結論，從而使最終用戶無需執行自己的分析。

圖 2 展示了一個儀表板，該儀表板使用與圖 1 所示相同的數據。該儀表板顯示了有關國家公園過夜遊客統計數據的關鍵信息。如您所見，此演示文稿具有定義儀表板的所有主要屬性。首先，它是一種視覺顯示，可讓您快速識別過夜訪客統計數據的整體趨勢。其次，您可以看到此處並未顯示所有詳細數據；只有與支持此儀表板目標相關的關鍵信息。最後，憑藉其目標，該儀表板有效地為您提供了有關過夜訪客趨勢的分析和結論。

定義 Excel 儀錶盤和報告

圖 2：儀表板提供與特定目標或業務流程相關的關鍵度量的概覽視圖。

Creation of an Excel Dashboard

The following outlines the initial steps in creating an Excel dashboard:

1. Brainstorm ideas and strategize on the dashboard’s main purpose

Before investing time and money to build Excel dashboards, users should first brainstorm ideas on the type of data to add to the dashboard. Strategize on the main purpose you want the dashboard to serve. Do you want to track certain departments of the business or the performance of a specific product produced by the company?

2. identify the appropriate data source

After deciding on the purpose, the next step is to identify the appropriate source of the data that is going to be displayed on the dashboard. The data forms the basic element of the dashboard and guides the components that will be added to it.

The purpose of creating the dashboard determines, to a large extent, its appearance and features. The dashboard should encompass only the necessary aspects of the data that are relevant to making key decisions. Its appearance also depends on the recipients of the information. What are their preferences? Is the consumer a manager, external client, or a colleague? How much time do they have to study the dashboard? All the attributes should be key in designing the dashboard while keeping in mind the consumer’s preferences.

Design of an Excel Dashboard

The brainstorming stage will outline relevant dashboard elements to include in the design. You can decide to use or improve prebuilt templates to save time and money. The key elements of the template will include pivot tables, static tables, dynamic charts, auto-shape objects, gauge widgets, and other non-chart widgets.

The space occupied by each of the items also determines the appearance and readability of the dashboard. Are there too many small objects in the dashboard? Are the elements necessary, or do you need a few large objects that are easy and fast to study? Identify all the key elements that you will want to see on the dashboard so that you can categorize similar elements in the same section within the dashboard.

In addition, the Excel dashboard background color affects the readability of the data to a large extent. You can choose to color code similar objects to make it easy for the data users to read the information presented on the dashboard. The choice of colors also helps users distinguish between certain groups of elements for easier comparison. The Excel dashboard’s user interface can be enhanced by simplifying the navigation panels. One way to achieve it is to add labels to graphs, include drop-down lists, and freeze panels to limit scrolls.