The Myth That 'Interactive' Automatically Means 'Better'
We think interactivity is modern. The client thinks it is work. Stop hiding the answer behind a click.
Stop Making the Client Do the Work
I watched a CEO try to use a “state-of-the-art” dashboard last week. It was painful. It was like watching a cat try to open a door handle.
The dashboard was beautiful, in a technical sense. It had sliders. It had cross-filtering. It had a map that zoomed in if you hovered over a pixel-perfect specific spot.
The CEO wanted to know one thing: “Are sales up in France?”
He clicked the map. It zoomed too far. He tried to drag the date slider. It stuck. He accidentally clicked a filter for ‘sock sales’ and couldn’t find the ‘undo’ button.
He sighed, looked at me, and asked, “Oliver, can you just email me the number?”
It was tragic. We had spent weeks building a tool that required a pilot’s license to operate, when all he wanted was a sentence. We think interactivity is “engaging.” To a busy punter, it is just friction.
The Confusion: The Hide-and-Seek Reporting Style
Interactivity is often used as a crutch. We don’t know what is important, so we put everything into a dynamic chart and say, “You explore it.”
This is lazy. It is the reporting equivalent of a buffet. “Here is all the food; serve yourself.” But the client is paying for a chef, not a buffet.
When you bury the insight behind a click or a hover-state, you are playing hide-and-seek with the value.
- Hover effects: Terrible for screenshots. If I print it, the data vanishes.
- Drill-downs: Usually a maze where the client gets lost and forgets what the original question was.
- Filters: A liability. If the client forgets to clear a filter, they look at the wrong data for a week and then blame you.
It is dodgy design. We are prioritizing the “cool factor” over the “comprehension factor.”
The Headline: The Power of the Static View
The most high-value report you can send is a static image that answers the question immediately. No moving parts. No risk of breaking.
I operate on a simple rule: The Screenshot Test. If I take a screenshot of your dashboard and paste it into an email, does it still make sense?
- If the answer is “No, you need to hover to see the values,” then the design is rubbish.
- If the answer is “Yes,” then you have cracked it.
[TO EDITOR: Illustration showing two states. Left (The Interactive Trap): A complex chart with a cursor hovering over a bar to reveal a tiny tooltip box with “£10k”. Label: “Hidden Value”. Right (The Static Fix): The same chart but the bar is labelled clearly with bold text “£10k”. Label: “Obvious Value”.]
We need to be brave enough to make choices. Instead of giving the client a filter to switch between ‘North’, ‘South’, and ‘East’, just put three small charts side-by-side.
“Here is the North. Here is the South. Here is the East.”
Sorted. The client scans it in three seconds. They don’t have to click. They don’t have to think. They just get the news.
Let’s stop building video games and start building reports. If I have to work to get the answer, I’m not paying the invoice.
FAQs
But clients ask for drill-down capabilities.
They ask for it because they don't trust the top-line number. Fix the trust, and they won't need the drill.
Static reports feel outdated.
Newspapers are static. Speed limit signs are static. They work because they are clear. 'Modern' is not a synonym for 'Good'.
What if they need to see a specific segment?
Then build a specific view for that segment. Don't make them build it themselves.