Information Dashboard Design-Ch.1

I finally started reading the book, Information Dashboard Design by Stephen Few. I figured I'd write down the highlights of Chapter 1. The definition of a dashboards is:

A dashboard is a visual display of the most important information needed to achieve one or more objectives; consolidated and arranged on a single screen so the information can be monitored at a glance.

Dashboards also have small, concise, clear, and intuitive display mechanisms. They are customized as well.

Right away from the beginning Stephen Few suggests that dashboards can provide powerful means to present information, but rarely show this. Instead, most dashboards fail to communicate efficiently not because of inadequate technology, but because of poorly designed implementations.

I am beginning to realize that the communication of any information can be viewed from a designers' angle and can be critiqued to provide better insight into presenting clarity.