Understand how to provide feedback through dashboards

“What you measure, you improve.” But how does this actually work?
To understand effective, motivational data design, you need to understand the psychology of feedback.
Effective dashboards provide effective feedback and rely on two dynamics:
1. They increase our commitment to a goal; by:
  - Highlighting past progress (e.g., Atom, fundraising progress bars)
  - Making the feedback experience itself rewarding or fascinating (e.g., Atom, Robinhood)
  - Downplaying failures (e.g., weight graphs)
  - Shrinking the perceived distance to a larger goal (e.g., fundraising thermometers)
2. They draw contrast between our current state and goal state; with:
  - Two numbers (e.g., speed limit signs)
  - Long distance goals (e.g., weight graphs, fundraising progress bars)
  - Social comparisons
  - Various benchmarks (e.g., Tufte and Powsner, Worklytics)
Example: The left speaks to viewers’ commitment. The right highlights the contrast between users’ current and target states.