Dashboards

Lecture 21

Dr. Benjamin Soltoff

Cornell University
INFO 3312/5312 - Spring 2026

April 14, 2026

Announcements

Announcements

• Homework 06

The Big Mac Index

• What is the topic of this dashboard?
• How does the dashboard present information? What kinds of techniques does it use?

Learning objectives

• Define dashboards for data communication
• Identify scenarios when dashboards are appropriate
• Distinguish between client-side and server-side interactivity
• Create and revise Quarto dashboards

Communicating interactively with data

1. Interactive charts
2. Scrollytelling
3. Dashboards
4. Interactive web applications

Dashboards

What is a dashboard?

A dashboard is a visual display of data used to monitor conditions and/or facilitate understanding.

• Collection of related data points
• Information presented in a single view
• Uses a range of methods for data communication (charts, tables, text, etc.)
• Can be static or interactive

Interactivity in dashboards

Client-side interactivity

Application code is executed in the browser

• All elements/components must be defined in HTML/CSS/JavaScript
• Interactivity is rendered within the browser
• Limited computational power
• Can be published as a static webpage
• Examples
  • {ggiraph}
  • {leaflet}
  • Interactive {gt} tables
  • {htmlwidgets}

Server-side interactivity

Application code is executed on the server

• Content can be generated dynamically in response to user input
• Allows execution of R code on the server
• Requires a server to host the application (or specialized server-less deployment)
• Examples
  • Input fields (toggle buttons, dropdown menus, search bars, etc.)
  • Regenerated charts/tables

Dashboards with Quarto

Dashboards with Quarto

• Build dashboards using the Quarto framework
• Flexible row and column-based layouts
• Can include interactive/dynamic elements
• Use parameterized reporting to create static dashboards for different datasets
• Publish as a static web page or integrate with Shiny for server-side interactivity

Example dashboards

• Worldwide Development
• Stock Explorer
• Labor and Delivery Dashboard

.qmd ➝ Dashboard

---
title: "Customer Churn"
format: dashboard
---

# content goes here...

Dashboard Components

1. Navigation Bar and Pages — Icon, title, and author along with links to sub-pages (if more than one page is defined).

2. Sidebars, Rows & Columns, and Tabsets — Rows and columns using markdown heading (with optional attributes to control height, width, etc.). Sidebars for interactive inputs. Tabsets to further divide content.

3. Cards (Plots, Tables, Value Boxes, Content) — Cards are containers for cell outputs and free form markdown text. The content of cards typically maps to cells in your notebook or source document.

Why not use Tableau/PowerBi?

• Closed-source proprietary software
• Use point-and-click interface to construct dashboards (limited programming)
• Limited customization and flexibility

Application exercise

ae-20

Instructions

• Go to the course GitHub org and find your ae-20 (repo name will be suffixed with your GitHub name).
• Clone the repo in Positron, run renv::restore() to install the required packages, open the Quarto document in the repo, and follow along and complete the exercises.
• Render, commit, and push your edits by the AE deadline – end of the day

Wrap-up

Recap

• Dashboards provide a compact, comprehensive communication of related data points
• Avoid overwhelming readers with unnecessary or confusing information
• Leverage interactivity to provide additional information on an as-needed basis
• Use Quarto to create dashboards that can be published as static web pages