We are pleased to announce the 2009 Excel Dashboard Competition:
The Competition
Like last year, the competition is for real world solutions, we are not providing a sample data set, and we’re looking forward to seeing some great examples of reports, charts and dashboards.
The dashboards are judged on the clarity and effectiveness of their design, particularly
- Clean and clear organization
- Effective table and chart design
- A single-screen display, properly designed for the web, screen or print outs
We’ll also consider technical aspects of the dashboard, did it use effective techniques for
- The Dashboard layout
- Data management, data logic and calculation : YTD figures, variances, etc….
- Dashboard delivery: Sharing the dashboard via PDF, the web or as an Excel Workbook
There will be prizes for the top 3 entries, with the winner having first choice of prize from:
- 1st Prize: Amazon gift certificate for $100
- 2nd Prize: Stephen Few’s New Book “Now You see it”
- 3rd Prize: Edward Tufte’s classical Book “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information”
The Rules
We’ve kept the rules simple:
- The solution must be in Excel 2000 or more recent, and not require additional software other than Excel and Chart Tamer , MicroCharts and XLCubed.
- Entries can use any combination of tables, Excel charts, bullet graphs and MicroCharts (sparklines). Each have their strengths and role to play in an effective dashboard
- We will publish the top 3 dashboards on our website, so please ensure this is not problematic for any of your submissions.
- Please change names and data as appropriate in the dashboards to protect the innocent.
- Final Entries by 19 July 2009, Judges decision final!
Is it okay to have a bit of lightweight VBA in the entry?
VBA is fine, it’s free with Excel so no issue whatsoever.
Andreas