Introducing the DAR(S) principle

We have standard reports, such as those that meet periodic information needs; these are reports that do not change greatly over time. Examples include financial status, inventory, employee availability, the number of products sold, and so on. These reports frequently feature a fixed layout with the option of drilling (more comprehensive material), being more aggregated (drilling up), and even slicing and dicing (selecting a different angle)

Dashboards for management (score carding) are displayed differently. Dashboards or scorecards are often one-page documents that provide an overview of several graphs, meters, and tables. This overview provides a quick snapshot of the present state of things in a specific region of an organization. They also show how a company performs from a strategic standpoint, as shown in Chapter 6, Aligning with Organizational Goals.

The key takeaways are that there are three angles to display information, like dashboarding...