Introduction? Few?phenomena?characterize?our?time?more?uniquely?and?powerfully?than?the?rapid?rise?and?influence?of? information?technologies.?These?technologies?have?unleashed?a?tsunami?of?data?that?rolls?over?and?flattens? us?in?its?wake.?Taming?this?beast?has?become?a?primary?goal?of?the?information?industry.?One?tool?that?has? emerged?from?this?effort?in?recent?years?is?the?information?dashboard.?This?single‐screen?display?of?the? most?important?information?people?need?to?do?a?job,?presented?in?a?way?that?allows?them?to?monitor? what's?going?on?in?an?instant,?is?a?powerful?new?medium?of?communication.?At?least?it?can?be,?but?only? when?properly?designed.? Most?information?dashboards?that?are?used?in?business?today?fall?far?short?of?their?potential.?The?root?of? the?problem?is?not?technologyat?least?not?primarilybut?poor?visual?design.?To?serve?their?purpose?and?fulfill? their?potential,?dashboards?must?display?a?dense?array?of?information?in?a?small?amount?of?space?in?a? manner?that?communicates?clearly?and?immediately.?This?requires?design?that?taps?into?and?leverages?the? power?of?visual?perception?to?sense?and?process?large?chunks?of?information?rapidly.?This?can?be?achieved? only?when?the?visual?design?of?dashboards?is?central?to?the?development?process?and?is?informed?by?a?solid? understanding?of?visual?perceptionwhat?works,?what?doesn't,?and?why.? No?technology?can?do?this?for?you.?You?must?bring?this?expertise?to?the?process.?Take?heartthe?visual?design? skills?that?you?need?to?develop?effective?dashboards?can?be?learned,?and?helping?you?learn?them?is?the?sole? purpose?of?this?book.? If?the?information?is?important,?it?deserves?to?be?communicated?well.