Dashboards, or Launchpads?

Dashboards, while highly useful, are often designed with the wrong user in mind and end up being used for purposes other than intended, leading to inefficiencies in their application. Originally, dashboards were designed as "wallboards" for large displays, offering a broad view intended for monitoring rather than detailed debugging. However, as systems have evolved into complex, distributed architectures, the need for dashboards has shifted toward serving as "launchpads" for engineers, guiding them in system diagnostics and debugging rather than merely displaying metrics. The historical origin of the term "dashboard" ties back to its use in horse-drawn carriages and later vehicles, serving as a real-time decision-making aid, a principle that still translates into today's use of dashboards. Metrics from Network Operations Centers initially shaped the design of dashboards, but modern engineering demands a more targeted approach, using dashboards as starting points for deeper investigation rather than endpoints. The evolution of distributed systems has necessitated a focus on dashboards that offer curated insights and direct users to the next steps in problem-solving, emphasizing the need for dashboards to facilitate inquiry and exploration rather than acting as static displays.