Dashboard Documentation: How to Build Documentation That Users Actually Use
- katrocha49021
- Apr 7
- 5 min read
Updated: May 15
By Kat Rocha | April 7, 2025
Dashboard documentation is more than just a technical record—it’s a user-friendly guide explaining exactly what users should see, how they can effectively use it, and where confusion might creep in without proper context. Done right, it empowers users to confidently interpret dashboards, reduces support requests, and makes future maintenance easier.
Table of Contents:
❗️Why Dashboard Documentation Matters
As dashboard developers, we often forget users haven't spent hours diving into the dashboard like we have. They might not instantly grasp what the data represents or how to interpret it. Even the most intuitive dashboards come with hidden assumptions, tricky calculations, or subtle filters. Good documentation ensures:
Users understand and trust the data: They can quickly interpret visualizations, apply filters correctly, and recognize underlying assumptions.
Developers save time: Clear context makes troubleshooting, updating, and refining dashboards straightforward.
Long-term usability: Future dashboard owners keep critical context, preserving valuable institutional knowledge.
And let’s be honest—sometimes we also forget why we built things a certain way 🤪 Documentation keeps those memories alive (and your sanity intact).
🔑 How to Structure Documentation: Core + Context
Alright, now that I've convinced you that context matters, let’s dive into exactly what to include and how best to organize it. Effective documentation balances essential information with helpful context. Here's how to structure it:
Essential Components of your Dashboard Documentation
General Overview - ‘Bottom Line Up Front
Purpose: Clearly define what the dashboard aims to achieve.
Outcomes/Objectives: Highlight key questions it answers.
Primary Users/Audience: Identify teams, departments, or roles that primarily use it.
Owner & Contact Info: Provide clear contact details for those who maintain the dashboard (name, role, email, Slack, etc.).
Permissions & Access: Clarify who can view or edit and how to request access if needed.
Glossary / Data Dictionary - Eliminate confusion and ensure everyone uses a universal language to interpret your dashboard.
List primary KPIs with a dedicated glossary that explains each metric, field name, and/or acronym. Example:
Engagement Rate: The percentage of users who interacted with at least one feature during a session.
Conversion Rate: The ratio of goal completions to total visits.
Data Sources & Logic - Ensure everyone understands your data ecosystem without drowning them in detail.
Data Origins: List sources and systems (CRM, ERP, manual upload, etc.).
Calculation Details: Briefly summarize key formulas. Just enough detail for troubleshooting.
💡Pro tip: Write notes directly within calculated fields.Update Frequency: State refresh intervals.
Caveats or Limitations: Document assumptions, excluded data segments, incomplete data, or metric definition changes over time. Example:
“Sales data covers 2021–2025, updated every 3 days; totals may not reflect today's transactions.”
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Offer concise responses to common questions.
Q: “Why don’t I see my team’s numbers?”
A: “Check if the ‘Region’ filter includes your area and verify the date range.”
Enhancements for User-Friendly Experience
Make dashboards more intuitive and digestible with these quick wins:
Clear Instructions: At the top, briefly explain how to read and interact with the dashboard (filters, drill-downs, charts).
Contextual Help and Tooltips: Add tooltips directly within your dashboard for instant clarification.
Common Questions List: Include a short list of questions your dashboard answers for users.
Regular Reviews & Updates: Documentation ages fast. Schedule regular documentation reviews (quarterly is great) to keep everything fresh, accurate, and genuinely useful.
Worksheet Annotations: Use field descriptions, calculated field comments, and worksheet captions to leave notes.
Consistent Naming Conventions: Clearly name fields and calculations for easy understanding and maintenance.
💡Pro tip: If time permits, give your users a quick live walkthrough. Trust me—they’ll thank you later.🧩 Secondary (Nice-to-Have) Components
If you’re feeling ambitious, these add extra value:
Detailed Filter Descriptions: Clarify each filter’s specific function and impact.
Complete Calculation Logic: Ideal for developers, optional for general users.
Data Transformation Guides: Maintain external documentation on data sources, transformations, and dashboard logic.
💡Check out my dashboard template, which includes an Introduction page featuring most of the documentation recommendations outlined above.
📁 Choosing the Right Documentation Platform
Now that you know what to include, it's important to pick the right place to house your documentation, based on your audience’s needs:
1. In-Workflow (Embedded Documentation)
Documentation is embedded directly within dashboards or applications, providing immediate, contextual assistance exactly where users encounter questions.
Why Use It:
Opt for this method when users need instant guidance without leaving their current task—keeping interactions smooth and reducing workflow disruption.
Examples: Tableau Server, Tableau Cloud, Power BI
✅ Pros:
Immediate, relevant help
Enhances user adoption and confidence
Minimal workflow disruption
❌ Cons:
Limited formatting and space
Difficult to manage detailed documentation
Potential for UI clutter if overused
Personally, I prefer including documentation directly within dashboards as an “Introduction” or “Background” page, or if not in the dashboard at least in a folder within the Tableau/Power BI environment.2. Standalone User Reference Documentation
Documentation is hosted externally in dedicated knowledge bases or reference systems, this approach helps users find comprehensive, searchable guidance, FAQs, and troubleshooting support.
Why Use It:
Ideal for detailed explanations, structured learning resources, and troubleshooting documentation accessible independently of the immediate dashboard environment.
Examples: Zendesk Guide, Freshdesk, Guru, Google Docs, etc.
✅ Pros:
Highly organized, searchable
Comprehensive, multimedia-rich content
Easy to scale and maintain
More design and formatting are available
Easy to collaborate and track changes (Google Docs)
❌ Cons:
Requires users to navigate away from the dashboard
3. Team & Organization-Wide Documentation
This documentation lives in a centralized platform where multiple stakeholders contribute to and manage documentation for dashboards, training materials, onboarding, and organizational processes.
Why Use It:
Perfect for ongoing collaboration, large-scale training, onboarding, and shared organizational knowledge. Offers centralized version control for evolving content.
Examples:
Internal Wiki Platforms (Confluence, Notion)
Company Intranet or Portals
Learning Management Systems (Moodle, TalentLMS)
✅ Pros:
Rich, detailed, multimedia-supported
Great for large-scale updating, training, and onboarding
More design and formatting are available
❌ Cons:
Users must leave their immediate tasks to access documentation
4. Technical & Developer-Focused Documentation
This documentation often lives alongside technical code or project files in version-controlled systems. Primarily for technical teams, it tracks every change, maintains historical versions, and links directly to underlying code.
Why Use It:
Ideal for highly technical documentation that evolves closely with development processes, especially when auditability and detailed version tracking matter.
Examples: GitHub, Bitbucket.
✅ Pros:
Precise change tracking
Strong integration with technical workflows
Ideal for troubleshooting detailed technical issues
❌ Cons:
Less intuitive and steeper learning curve for non-technical users
Limited formatting, design, and multimedia capabilities
Users must leave their immediate tasks to access documentation
⚠️ Make Documentation Stick: Getting Users to Actually Read It
You built it—NOW make sure they come (and read it!). Here are tips to make your dashboard documentation irresistible:
Make it Easy to Find: Add a visible “Help” or “Documentation” button directly in the dashboard.
Keep it Short, Sweet, and Digestible: Break information into brief sections with bullet points, clear headings, and visuals.
Integrate into Onboarding: Introduce documentation during initial training.
Give Friendly Reminders: Gently redirect users to documentation when common questions pop up.
Make sure to keep the user experience in mind!✅ Best Practices Recap
Keep it Clear and Concise: Avoid overwhelming users—prioritize easy navigation.
Meet Users Where They Are: Tailor complexity and format to your audience.
Document Continuously: Capture key details as you build.
Make Documentation Helpful: Use clear definitions, highlight caveats, and provide relatable examples.
Make Documentation Routine: Make documentation part of your workflow checklist (check out my blog post for tips on that!).
Regularly Update: Ensure documentation evolves alongside your dashboards.
Use a Template: Check out my dashboard template as a starting place if needed and personalize it based on user needs.
🏁 Final Thoughts
Great documentation reduces headaches, streamlines onboarding, and helps your work scale.
Want your dashboards to speak for themselves? Start by giving them a voice through thoughtful, user-friendly documentation.
Need help leveling up your dashboard documentation process? Let’s chat!
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