Connect to the Audience.

ByFrank Broen
Track a Plow Dashboard

NCHRP SYNTHESIS 584 is the most downloaded TRB publication in July 2022

This is the second of five key takeaways.

Your message must be seen and remembered.

The state DOT dashboards deliver information in a structured system that communicates with multiple levels of clearly defined audiences. Sharing the same data, information, and stories with internal and external partners helps them work together to accomplish common goals. 

The story and visualization should resonate with the intended audience:

  • Internal analysts want detailed data to find problems and solutions
  • Internal decision makers have to prioritize and manage limited funding
  • External stakeholders make decisions and provide funding
  • External audience wants to know how well the system is functioning

But,

Telling meaningful data-based performance stories is more than just reporting data. Visualizations can create a foundation to build partnerships within DOTs and between interested stakeholders that enable collaboration. The challenge State DOTs acknowledge is that increasing amounts of data make it difficult to deliver performance measures effectively to all intended audiences.

A story-rich dashboard that supports the executive leadership’s message can help focus the organization’s work to meet its stated objectives.