I first heard this objection from a client a number of years ago and it took me so off-guard that I just stared at them and then mumbled something about getting back to them on that. It just seemed like such a bizarre thing to say…
Since that time, I’ve heard this objection at least half a dozen times and have had a chance to formulate a couple of responses that usually convince dashboard users to rethink their “no red” policy. Specifically, these responses are questions that prompt dashboard users to reflect and reconsider:
Question 1:
"OK, just to confirm that I understand your request, you want the dashboard to say that everything is O.K. all the time, and to not show problems in the organization. Did I understand correctly?"
The answer is usually something like, "Well, maybe that’s not exactly what I want," and users eventually realize for themselves that avoiding flagging problems is going to make for a pretty useless dashboard.
Question 2:
"If our users have detailed background knowledge about all the metrics on the dashboard and can easily tell which numbers are good or bad on their own, then you're right, the dashboard doesn’t need red indicators to flag problems. Do our users have detailed background knowledge about all the numbers on the dashboard?"
The answer to this question is virtually always “no,” which, again, usually prompts people to rethink their “no red” policy.
Ultimately, dashboards that don’t visually flag problems will probably be abandoned by users because users don’t have time to manually review all the numbers and figure out which ones require attention, assuming that they even have the background knowledge needed to do so (which they usually don’t).
Having said all this, there are good ways and bad ways to determine which metrics to flag as red and green (or blue and orange for colorblind users). For example, flagging metrics that are worse than the previous period (yesterday, last month, etc.) or flagging metrics that are below a target don’t work well at all. Instead, I use a technique called “action dots.”
BTW…
There are still some spots left in my in-person workshop in London, U.K. next week (Nov4-7). Info and registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nick-desbarats-practical-charts-practical-dashboards-tickets-981495037077