How much should a dashboard show by default?
Hey everyone
Random question, but been on my mind how much a dashboard should actually show by default? I keep seeing two extremes. Some teams cram everything on one screen because more data feels like more value. Others strip it down so much that users end up clicking through 5 filters just to find one number.
Honestly, the ones that work best just pick the 1-2 decisions the user actually needs to make on that screen and design around that, instead of trying to show everything at once. Learned this the hard way after working on a few dashboard design projects where clients wanted "everything visible" and we had to talk them out of it.
Anyway, curious what others do here. Minimal by default and let people customize, or start dense and cut based on complaints? What actually worked vs what just added clutter for your team?