A World Without Dashboards
- Dave Findlay
- Jul 31
- 2 min read
For 20 years, dashboards have been the centrepiece of analytics.
You log in.
You click around.
You filter.
You try to make sense of it.
Some people got really good at it.
Most didn’t.
And now, with the rise of agent-style tools, that whole interface is (loudly) being questioned.
Not because dashboards are broken.
But because they were never really the the
right solution. They were all we had and they did help a little to get people closer to an insight.
Let’s imagine a world without them.
No dashboards. So what’s left?
Instead of dashboards, you get:
• A nudge when something changes that you care about
• A quick answer to “What’s driving this?”
• A summary of what happened this week and what needs attention
• A proactive heads-up when a risk is emerging
• A decision support tool that talks like your team does
Sound too futuristic?
It’s already starting.
With agents. With embedded assistants. With tools that surface what matters, instead of displaying everything and hoping you find it.
Dashboards weren’t the goal, they were just a stop along the way
Let’s be honest:
Most dashboards weren’t built to help people act.
They were built to centralize access and “let users explore.”
But most users aren’t trying to explore.
They’re trying to answer a question so they can move on.
Dashboards didn’t fail.
They served a purpose.
They made data more visible.
But they were built for the tool, not the task.
That’s why people still exported to Excel.
Still asked for screenshots.
Still emailed the data team to “just pull the numbers.”
Dashboards were never the destination.
They were a necessary stop along the way.
So what now?
We’re not saying dashboards are obsolete.
But if you’re planning your next analytics investment ask yourself:
• Are we designing for discovery or for action?
• Are we showing data or solving problems?
• Are we asking users to log in, or bringing answers to where they already work?
Because maybe the future isn’t just more beautiful dashboards.
Maybe it’s less dashboards altogether and more data that just shows up when it’s needed.
At Fuse, we believe a great data strategy only matters if it leads to action.
If you’re ready to move from planning to execution — and build solutions your team will actually use — let’s talk.
