UX Wednesday: 3 things about data we can learn from head-up displays [+ 3 examples]

For almost two years, I've been driving a car with a head-up display. After some time, I realized that I don't even look at a traditional speedometer anymore, except for an occasional glance at the fuel gauge. This gave me some food for thought on how useful and well-designed this feature is, leading me to the conclusion that dashboards, or at least some of them, should resemble head-up displays.

Photo: https://www.volvocars.com/uk/cars/xc90/specification/

3 goals of head-up displays

In my opinion, as a non-professional but satisfied user, a head-up display has three primary goals:

- Presenting essential driver information.

- Safely guiding the driver to the destination.

- Capturing the driver’s attention when necessary.

How do they do it?

This is achieved through three key features:

1. Data isn't distracting for the driver.

2. Data appears within the driver's field of vision.

3. Key or urgent indicators are not lost in the crowd.

Navigating the balance between information and clarity is crucial

While it might sound obvious, our experience has shown that resisting the urge to overload a dashboard with components can be challenging. In some cases, these dashboards become useless to users who lack the time to analyze extensive information. Some even contain charts that are misleading or poorly designed, leading to the loss of important data among irrelevant information.

That's why certain dashboards should either resemble head-up displays or incorporate an insightful overview section that highlights key data.

Example no. 1

Imagine you meet your manager at the elevator, and they ask about your team's performance. Your dashboard should feature a section that promptly answers this question ('Great, our NPS has been rising in the last 2 months.' 'Not good, CTR is falling down.'). Obviously, each team (marketing, sales, etc.) has its own KPIs, so choose the ones that are critical for your team.

Example no. 2

Another idea is a traffic light system – choose several categories (preferably 5 rather than 50), and assign a traffic light to each. If the light is green, you won’t even notice this field. But if it turns red or yellow, it captures your attention immediately.

Example no. 3

A broader overview of the business is, of course, necessary in some cases. However, let's focus on indicators that are crucial for your business model. If you are running a subscription business, limit the information to key indicators such as Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), churn rate, Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), etc.

Concluding – take an inspiration from automotive and compare your head-up display with your dashboards to ensure that essential information is clearly visible.