StretchLearn Course

Design Dashboards People Actually Read

From the 12-column grid to the right chart to colour-blind-safe KPIs to a build-ready Tableau, Power BI, or Figma spec, design data screens that drive decisions instead of decorating them.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hr 20 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

This course teaches the craft of dashboard design as an information-design discipline, not a chart-dumping exercise. You will learn how to structure a screen on a grid, choose the chart that answers the actual question, encode status and magnitude with colour responsibly, strip noise out of dense tables, and produce a spec a developer can build without guessing. Every lesson uses named tools, real measurements, and worked examples from Tableau, Power BI, and Figma.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Structure a dashboard on a 12-column grid using the Z-pattern and a clear visual hierarchy

Select the correct chart type for comparison, trend, part-to-whole, distribution, and correlation questions

Encode KPIs with accessible, colour-blind-safe palettes that signal status without misleading

Declutter data tables by removing chartjunk and raising the data-ink ratio

Build BAN-led KPI tiles and reference lines that surface the so-what at a glance

Produce a build-ready handoff spec for Tableau, Power BI, or Figma with tokens and states

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Foundations: What a Dashboard Is For

Before choosing a single chart, you need to know who the dashboard serves, what decision it supports, and how people read a screen. This module sets the strategy and the layout grid everything else hangs on.

3 lessons

Audience, Decision, and the Three Dashboard TypesContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

How People Read a Screen: Z-Pattern, Hierarchy, and Pre-Attentive CuesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

The Layout Grid: 12 Columns, Modules, and WhitespaceContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Choosing the Right Chart

The chart is a translation of a question into a visual form. This module gives you a decision framework, a tour of the workhorse chart types, and the encodings to avoid.

3 lessons

Match the Chart to the QuestionContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Charts to Use Sparingly, and Charts to AvoidContent · 45 min

LMS Access

KPI Tiles, Big Numbers, and Reference ContextContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Colour, Tables, and Decluttering

This module covers responsible colour encoding for KPIs and status, accessible palettes, and the discipline of stripping noise out of dense tables.

3 lessons

Colour Encoding for KPIs and StatusContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Decluttering Data Tables: Data-Ink and ChartjunkContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Typography, Number Formatting, and DensityContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Building and Handing Off in Tableau, Power BI, and Figma

Turn the design into a real, build-ready artefact. This module covers tool-specific construction, interactivity, and a developer handoff that leaves no room for guessing.

3 lessons

From Wireframe to Build in Tableau and Power BIContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Interactivity, Filters, and Drill-Down Without OverwhelmContent · 45 min

LMS Access

The Handoff Spec: Tokens, States, and AnnotationsContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

dashboard designdata visualisationinformation designTableauPower BIFigmaKPI designchart selection