Facing up to the dashboard metaphor

After about three quarters of an oatmeal stout, my old friend Sam the BI developer wondered aloud, "What is the ideal dashboard?"

There was no need to call Steve Few or Edward Tufte. I had the answer right away. (I had been sipping an oatmeal stout myself.)

The ideal dashboard, I said, is like the human face. You can read the big, obvious signs at a glanc…