MicroStrategy ONE
Positioning and formatting the Report Services (RS) dashboard objects
Best practices for positioning and formatting Report Services (RS) dashboard objects include:
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Use the color palette to match your corporate standards, or create any other color desired. Consider the following best practices:
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Colors are especially effective when used as a background that visually groups a set of reports or other related objects.
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Contrasting colors support quick comparisons between two measurements, such as actual vs. forecasted values.
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To make visual analysis easy, use drop shadows, rounded edges, geometric lines and shapes, color gradients, transparency, and borders to visually link related sets of data. For example, group related sections of information under the same title bar and using the same background color to tie them together visually.
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Include text fields as needed. For example, a concise text field explaining a set of buttons can make the difference between users who are confused by a busy layout, and users who know exactly what to select so that the data displayed provides the information they need.
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Edit titles, as necessary, to make sense of your final display.
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Improve readability for grid reports by adding special formatting such as background colors or a drop shadow, to alternating or important rows so those rows stand out.
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Add thresholds to any important grid report data. A threshold is special formatting that is applied automatically when a value in a cell reaches a certain number. For example, if any of your regions returns sales numbers that fall below a specified low mark, the appropriate cell of the grid is automatically formatted, perhaps with a red background and bold numbers, to alert you to the condition. For details on applying thresholds to grid and graph reports, see the Basic Reporting Help.
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If there are other reports or documents that cover analysis areas related to data on your Report Services (RS) dashboard, consider adding one to three link bars, which are links from the RS dashboard directly to the separate report or document. You may find it helpful to ask your users what common investigative paths they might follow after using the RS dashboard. Links can help make that transition easy.
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If a grid report takes up too much room, make it smaller and add a scrollbar. The data will remain accessible but the report itself will use less space on the total RS dashboard area.
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Display your finished RS dashboard in the same format your users will be viewing it in, for example, HTML, PDF, Excel, or printed, and ensure that the display is effective for your planned output.