Prototyping: Building Better Dashboard Designs

Health Data Visualization Resource Hub

Published: March 20, 2024

Authors:

If you had asked me 3 years ago if I sketched out or created wireframes for my dashboards before I built them in Tableau, I would have laughed a resounding, “No, are you crazy? I don’t have time for extra work!” I don’t think I’m alone in that initial sentiment. I’m here to tell you that since I started using Figma for both design elements and full dashboard prototyping, I can confidently say that prototyping has significantly improved my dashboard builds and streamlined the development process.

Build Better Dashboards by Prototyping

In 2022, I had the opportunity to speak at the Tableau Conference in Las Vegas on prototyping and why it’s worth adding it to your Tableau development process. While the presentation wasn’t recorded live, you can listen and watch me, Tableau Visionary and Partner and Senior Consultant at HealthDataViz, alongside fellow Tableau Visionary and data viz friend, Autumn Battani from PhData, present our famous TC 2022 conference talk at a Analytics Tableau User Group meeting. We share our knowledge about the design thinking process and how prototyping is an essential, but often overlooked, part of the data visualization design process.

The design thinking double diamond is a process which designers move through phases of discovery, definition, ideation, prototyping and testing to create a user-centered solution. — The design thinking double diamond

The What, Why, and How of Getting Started

What is prototyping? It is a complete user experience without a fully developed dashboard and without any “real” data.

To be more specific, prototyping:

is an early low-fidelity concept of a dashboard, report, or visual display
shows metrics, chart types, layout, and possible interactivity without actual data
is a way to obtain early feedback from users on the design and direction
can help you validate users’ needs and POV to ensure the design solves their problem

Are you now wondering if prototyping will add time to your overall project timeline?

What could happen if you don’t prototype and instead developed a fully functioning dashboard first?

You could show end users a functioning visual to start using, but
You might have to unwind or edit complicated and time-consuming calculations, charts, and interactivity because now they have lots of feedback and wishes, and
You might end up with tedious design and development change requests you weren’t anticipating (“We need you to change this blue to green everywhere it’s found in the suite of dashboards you just built.” UGH!), and
You could discover that what you built doesn’t solve their exact problem you designed for.

What happens if you don't prototype dashboards before building them? You may find out that your dashboard doesn't solve end users' problems. — Example of what happens if you don’t prototype

Lucky for you, there are lots of prototyping tools available. Some tools are easy to use, like pencil and paper, but not very accurate. Others are collaborative to use, such as slides, but more time consuming to create in.

When choosing what tool to use for prototyping, it's important to consider the accessibility, ease of adoption, time to implement, accuracy of the tool, and how collaborative it is. — Various considerations when choosing a prototyping tool

To learn even more about the above summary plus prototyping best practices, check out the video and sign up for our blog emails so you don’t miss any of our upcoming data viz and design posts from the HealthDataViz team!

Contact our Experts

Expertise: Process & Framework

Lindsay Betzendahl

Lindsay brings 20 years of healthcare and data visualization expertise to Sellers Dorsey. As a Partner and Senior Consultant at HealthDataViz (HDV), she led data visualization consulting projects with clients across the health and healthcare industry. She worked with the HDV leadership team to shape and implement their mission, vision, and values. She is the co-author of Visualizing Health and Healthcare Data, an expert in data visualization using Tableau, and a former adjunct professor of Data Visualization at Temple University. Lindsay has spent 15 years working with Medicaid families and providers in hospitals and community-based programs, using data to develop strategies that improve quality and access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries. Her contributions to the data visualization community led to her being recognized as a Tableau Visionary in 2020, a title she has held consecutively through 2025. In 2025, she was inducted into the Tableau Hall of Fame—an exclusive recognition awarded to only 30 individuals globally (including just nine women). Since the program’s inception in 2012, only 135 individuals have ever held the title of Tableau Visionary. Her commitment to sharing her Tableau expertise and engaging with the broader community continues to shape the field of data visualization.

Current Responsibility

Lindsay works to lead and grow the Firm’s data analytics and visualization team while serving as the senior expert in data visualization, design, and wireframing in Figma as well as Tableau development and implementation. She works to bring advanced reporting to clients and to improve the internal analytic and reporting capabilities of Sellers Dorsey.