C
O
M
M
U
N
I
T
Y
DASHBOARD
DESIGN
TEMPLATE
INTRODUCTION
To be competitive as a city
, you need to be tr
anspar
en
t in th
e
way
you manage. Y
ou’
r
e trying to attr
act businesses, citizens, neighbor-
hood de
velopment, and investmen
ts
to your community
, and
in
or
der to demonstr
ate that quickly
, you need to sho
w
th
at you’
r
e
a
well-managed mu
nicipality
.
Y
our community dashboar
d pr
o
vides you wi
th
an opp
ortu
nity to
tell a story of ho
w you’
r
e e
x
ecuting on your str
ategic plan. This eb-
ook will pr
o
vide you
with th
e
tools and in
sight you
need to cr
eate
your o
wn community dashb
oar
d. W
e
’ll
walk you th
r
ou
gh each of
the thr
ee layers that comprise a community dashboar
d—each lay-
er helps citizens drill do
wn further
into measu
r
e
details,
so the
y
can better understand municipal
goals and p
r
og
r
ess to
war
d th
ose
goals. Within the e
xplanation of each layer, we
’ll pr
o
vi
de a visual ex-
ample, details about what the layer entails, an
d a to-do list to h
el
p
you get started
.
KEEP IN MIND...
A r eal community dash boar d would not be in template-form—it would be on your municipal website. Our hope is that this PDF will guide you thr ough the pr ocess of cr e- ating a mu nicipal community dash boar d and g ive you some ideas to consider while you’ r e bu ilding your o wn.
LAYER #1: A SUMMARY
FOR THE ENTIRE CITY
The first part of a community dashboar
d
is
a single layer of
the
entir
e city
. It sho
ws the key gr
oupings that mak
e up the major sub-
sets of the municipality
. Some municipalities have as littl
e
as
thr
ee
key gr
oupings, while some have up to 10 or 11. Between five and
eight key gr
oupings is common.
LAYER #1: A SUMMARY FOR THE ENTIRE CIT
Y
Her e ’ s an e xample of six gr oup ings that ar e seen r egul arly:
T
r
ansportation &
Mobil
ity
Our city
is easy is to
navigate
and tr
averse with modern tr
avel
methods and comp
etitive pu
blic
and private
options.
Q4
2015
Commun
ity &
Economi
c
De
velopment
Our economy
thrives and offers
opportunities to our r
esiden
ts
in
a sustainable way thr
ough pub-
lic and
private partnerships.
Q4
2015
Staff
Ex
cellence
Our city go
vernment r
ecru
its,
de
velops, an
d r
etains the top
talent in the mun
icipal space to
foster an efficient and inno
va-
tive work
envir
onment.
Q4
2015
Commun
ity
Livability
Our city is well-planned and de-
signed
to bring
citizens togeth
er
in
a
fun, in
clusive envir
onment.
Q4
2015
Oper
atio
ns &
T
echnology
Our city uses the latest
meth-
odologies and modern technol-
ogy in or
der to be
an
effective
leader in
the fiel
d.
Q4
2015
Safety &
Pr
epar
edness
Our citizens feel
an
d ar
e safe in
a community th
at has the tool
s
and
tr
aini
ng to be r
ead
y for
emer
gencies.
Q4
2015
LAYER #1: A SUMMARY FOR THE ENTIRE CIT
Y
TO-DO LIST
F Names: W rite do wn the names that you’ll use for key gr ouping s. Y ou’ll typically find these themes or categories in your o wn str ate- gic plan. If you don ’t have a str ategic p lan , tak e a look at th e way you communicate with your citizens r elated to these top ics an d choose names based off of those design ations. F Icons: This is a unif ying componen t of nearly e very municip al ity . If you’ve alr eady cr eated icons to r epr esent each summary ar ea, use those. Otherwise, work with your team to cr eate th ese icons. These icons w ill flo w th r ou gh each of the thr ee le vels, so your citizens can visually identify where they’ re at and what the y’ r e r e vie wing. F Colors: Y ou should also assign a color to each theme. But remem- ber, this is not the same as a RA G ( r ed, amber, or gr een) status— this is an actual color. T alk to your communication s departmen t if you need an official logo or specific website co lors to use.
LAYER #1: A SUMMARY FOR THE ENTIRE CIT
Y
TO-DO LIST, CONT.
F Definitions: W rite do wn a couple sentences that define each of these key g r oup ings. These gener al defi nitions ar e lik ely in your str ategic plan or in your municipal commu nications department. F Photogr aphs: Some ne w community dashboar ds ar e b eg inning to use photogr aphs that r epr esent each key gr ou ping. This isn ’t r equir ed, but it may mak e for a mor e authentic and aesth etical ly pleasing look and feel .
LAYER #2: THEME SUMMARY
Y
our second layer wil
l be a theme or category summary
.
It should include the
follo
wing
el
ements:
A description of a summary
ar
ea.
5-7 high-le
vel goals that describe what you’
r
e trying to accom-
plish thr
ough that
one summary
ar
ea.
A single measur
e for each of those goals. (Y
ou may h
ave
mor
e
than one measur
e, but for a community dashboar
d,
our e
xperi-
ence says to sho
w just the
one that b
est
depicts pr
ogr
ess on th
e
goal.)
A tar
get, actual, an
d RA
G status i
ndicator for each goal.
Note: Some municipalities choose n
ot to have g
oals
her
e.
Instead, the
y
simply list the measur
es that support each
theme.
If you
choose to do
this, be sur
e your measur
es ar
e clearly and appr
opriately titled to mak
e it
easier for a citizen to und
erstand.
LAYER #2: THEME SUMMARY
Remember, this le vel does not include any analysis. It simply offers a look at the one key summary ar ea at a glance.
Measur
e/Explanation
Actual
T
ar
get
Resul
t
Reduce Crime Rate
Over
all Crime Rate
1.48
2.25
Minimize Fir
e Damage
Fir
es Contained To Room Or O
ri
gin
72%
80%
Conduct Safety T
r
ai
nings
Number Of Safety T
r
ain
ings
27
30
Impr
o
ve Emer
gency Response Times
Aver
age Dispatch Time
6.24
7
Enhance T
r
affic Saf
ety
Accident Rate
3.45
2
Safety &
Pr
epar
edness
Q4
2015
LAYER #2: THEME SUMMARY
a note on selecting key measures
This le vel should be comprised of about si x pages: one p ag e for each of the summary themes fr om the first le vel. Each of these pag- es will have r oughly 4-9 goals with one measur e a pi ece. That means your community dashboar d will have between 25 and 50 measur es total. As a mun icipality , you will lik ely have between 2 00 and 800 total measur es. Ther efor e, the 25-50 in your community dashboar d should r epr esent the most important ar eas. The other 90% of your measur es may be accessible thr ough another r oute, but n ot in you r community dashboar d. If you put too many in her e, then you may lose the inter est of your citizen—it will b eco me an o verw helmi ng data dump .
LAYER #2: THEME SUMMARY
to-do list
F Cr eate a description of e very sum mary ar ea. F Identify high-le vel goals. These should collectively describe what you’ r e trying to accomplish for each su mmary ar ea. Y ou should be able to find these in you r st r ategic p lan . F Determine 3-5 goals. Be sur e to talk to the heads of the depart- ments that mak e up this gr oup. Ex plain to th em that you’ r e going to be telling the citizens ho w you’ r e doing, and ask them what the y th ink is important to include. Y ou want to communicate ho w you’ r e d oing as a mun icipality , so mak e sur e this is solid information.
LAYER #2: THEME SUMMARY
to-do list, cont.
F Determine your layout. When th is is pu blished to the web, it could be portr ayed in either a very visual format or an informa- tion-heavy format (or a combination of the two). This all comes do wn to your cultur e of communication. It’ s best to find a middle gr ound between dry “ data dumping ” an d gr aphic- o verload. F Gather data. Y ou’ll be updating this section r egu larly —l ik ely e very quarter—with tar gets, actuals, and RA G status r esults. So, you’ll need to be diligent about you r data collection.
LAYER #2: THEME SUMMARY
PRO TIP:
DON’T JUST SE
LECT GREEN MEASURES
Nothing in a city is perfect—so don ’t pr eten d that it is! Having a mix of gr een, amber, and r ed measur es can actually be e xtr emely help- ful. Y ou’ll demonstr ate that you’ r e in touch with what’ s going on in the community and that you ’ r e takin g steps to fi x pr oblem ar eas. If you include all gr een measur es, your citizens will be frustr at ed , and you’ll lik ely r eceive a lot of pushback.
LAYER #3: measures with
charts & analys
is
This will be the final layer of you
r
commun
ity dashboar
d. It
should
define your metric, give an analysis of
your performance,
e
xplain
why you ar
e monitoring this particular measur
e, and sho
w the tar-
gets and actuals for the last se
ver
al years (on a bar ch
art). In this
final layer, the rubber r
eally meets the r
oad. Y
ou typically
al
r
eady
have the measur
es chosen fr
om the mi
ddle layer, but
her
e,
you
should sho
w you
r
history of performance and
futur
e goals. The
history is important to sho
w if
you have b
een
impr
o
ving o
ver time,
and the futur
e tar
get is nice
to
shar
e
becau
se it demonstr
ates what
your ambitions ar
e for this measur
e. A
r
e y
ou
trying to
hold steady
or impr
o
ve performance?
Number of Safety T
r
ainings
Per Y
ear
LAYER #3: measures with charts
& analysis
Example
0
500
1,00
0
1,50
0
2,00
0
2,50
0
3,00
0
3,50
0
Q2 2
013
Q1 20
13
Number of Safety T
r
ainings Per Y
ear
T
ar
get
Q3 2013
Q4
2013
Q1
2014
Q2
2014
Q3
2014
Q4
201
4
Q1
2015
Q2
2015
Q3
2015
Q4
2015
Measur
e Name: Number of Safety
T
r
ai
nings Per Y
ear
Definition Of
Metric:
Our
m
et
ric
counts
the
number
of
tr
ainings conducted by
ci
ty safety personnel
to a gr
oup
of 30 r
esidents or lar
ger each calendar year.
Analysis Of Performance: Last year, we wer
e able to
conduct 27 total tr
aining
s
in fr
ont of
gr
oups with
30
or mor
e r
esidents. (Curr
ently
, we on
ly count
meeti
ngs
wher
e at least 30 r
esidents ar
e pr
esent.) Whi
le we fell
short of our tar
get of o
ver 30 r
esidents d
uri
ng many of
our meetings, ther
e wer
e times we had some
wher
e be-
tween 20 and 29 r
esidents pr
esent. We ar
e sti
ll r
each-
ing many people and making th
e
commun
ity safer and
mor
e pr
epar
ed. In or
der to e
x
ceed our target ne
xt year,
we ar
e incr
easing our mark
eting efforts to
get the w
or
d
out. We ar
e also going to gamify our appr
oach to en-
cour
age r
esidents to bri
ng their n
eighbors to tr
ainin
gs.
Why W
e
’
r
e Monitoring This Measur
e / Importance:
Our r
esidents need to kno
w ho
w
to
r
esp
on
d qu
ick
ly
in the unlik
el
y e
vent of
an
eme
r
gency
. By conductin
g
tr
ainings within schools an
d commu
nity centers, we
can ensur
e our r
esiden
ts
kno
w h
o
w
to r
espond in
case of a fir
e, weather e
vents, and other emer
g
en
cies.
Pr
operly understand
ing and
r
eacting
to an emer
g
ency
saves lives.
LAYER #3: measures with charts
& analysis
to-do list
F Chart your metric performance. Again, this should in clude past r esults as well as curr ent an d futu r e tar gets for performance. Y ou’ll need to label your ax es and include a legend, so your citi- zens can understand the data. Y ou should includ e an option for citizens to e xport this chart and think ab out allo win g them to e xport the underlying data, as well. F Add a metric definition. T ry to avoid using “in sider language ” and mak e the metric definition easy for anyone to q uickly understand .
LAYER #3: measures with charts
& analysis
to-do list, cont.
F Describe why this metric is important. Y our municipality might measur e o ver 500 di ff er ent metrics. Why did you choose to shar e this on e? F Pro vide an analysis of the metric’ s performance. Her e is your chance to tell the story behind the numbers. If the metric is per - forming e xtr emely well, e xplain ho w you have achie ved th ese r esults and will sustain them. If the metric is u nderperformin g, tell why this might be a momentary blip an d wh at the city is d oing to impr o ve performance.
LAYER #3: measures with charts
& analysis
This is the only le
vel th
at should
be used
to
pr
o
vide a mor
e
in-dep
th
e
xplanation of the measur
e, so it is imp
ortant
to fully
e
x
plain RA
G
statuses. Many citizens may not be familiar with them, and they
’ll
want to
kno
w wh
y one measur
e is gr
een wh
ile another is r
ed. Y
ou
may want to consider including definitions for each
st
atu
s
indicator
for citizens to r
efer
ence. (Some cities use mathematical formu
las
and others use appr
o
ximations.) Just r
emember
to
be clear in h
o
w
you pr
esent this information, so you
r
citizens u
nderstan
d ho
w
you
think about p
erformance.
PRO TIP:
USE THIS LEVEL
TO EXPLAIN RAG STATUSES
COMMUNITY DASHBOARD
CONSIDERATIONS
1.
Keep it simple. Remember that you’
r
e way mor
e familiar wi
th
this information than your
ci
tizens, so k
eepin
g it as simple as
possible is critical
.
2.
Pr
o
vide a clean user interface. Navigation is par
amoun
t—you’ll
need a r
eally good user interface. Y
our citizens need to be able to
hop fr
om the first section to the second section, f
r
om th
e
secon
d
section to the thir
d section, and back again. If the n
avi
gat
ion is
too comple
x or cumbersome, citizens may lose inter
est, an
d the
municipality could miss ou
t on a gr
eat engagement
op
portunity
.
3.
Don
’t for
get contact information.
Y
ou’ll want to include contact
information on all of these pages. Example: “
This is managed by
the str
ategic planning team. Y
ou can contact us at phone num-
ber or email addr
ess.” Citizens want to be ab
le to r
each out w
ith
addition
al questions.
COMMUNITY DASHBOARD
CONSIDERATIONS,
CONT.
4.
Mak
e sur
e your design is r
e
sp
onsive.
Most internet br
o
wsing
is mo
ving fr
om desk
top computers to mobile
de
vices,
so
your
ultimate design needs to be capable of
handling
mu
ltiple typ
es
of access to the internet. This is something
you can
work
on with
your IT departm
ent.
5.
Pr
o
vide two le
vels of focus gr
oups. Once you
get r
ead
y to r
oll
out your ne
w community dashboar
d, mak
e sur
e
you have a fo-
cus gr
oup mad
e up of
municipal emplo
yees an
d a focus g
r
ou
p
made up
of citizens.
COMMUNITY DASHBOARD
CONSIDERATIONS,
CONT.
6.
Put yourself inside the mind of the citizen. Municipal emp
lo
y-
ees can get so familiar with metrics, goals, and dashboar
d ele-
ments that the
y may start to forget what it’
s lik
e to think lik
e an
aver
age citizen. For e
xample, we
’ve seen dashboar
ds th
at
wer
e
ob
viously cr
eated by self-id
en
tified “
data n
er
ds”—wh
ile a layout
and design that’
s information-heavy may pique the inter
est of
those who cr
eated it, the aver
age citizen doesn
’
t
have the time
(or patience) to spend an
hour dig
ging d
eep
thr
ough
load
s of
data. Keep in mind th
at citizens ju
st want an
o
vervie
w of
ho
w th
e
city is performing and that
the
y should
be able to
find
th
at within
just a fe
w minutes of visiting you
r
co
mmun
ity dashboar
d.
APPENDIX
The thr
ee community dash
boar
d
s belo
w ar
e stylistically very
differ
ent, but the
y all pr
esent similar information. Cl
ick
thr
ough
each of these dashboar
ds’ layers and
determine, alon
g with
the r
est of your team, which city
has
a model similar to yours.
Iden
tify elements you
lik
e and d
on
’t lik
e, and start cr
eating you
r
dashboar
d fr
om th
er
e.
V
aughan, Ontario, CA
Fort Collins, C
O
Charlottesville, V
A
ClearPoint Example Dashboar
d
want to know
mor
e?
Check
out the ClearPoint Commun
ity Dashboar
d
Or Contact Us to r
equest a dashb
oar
d
tour
