Ariane Erickson

Top Features Every Public Health Dashboard Needs (and how to build them)

Regular talk, 3:15 - 4:15 PM

Building a public-facing dashboard is a balancing act. While crafting a compelling story from your data it is easy for dashboard design principles to become muddled in the competing priorities: user needs internal partner requests and performance of the dashboard. Navigating these challenges requires a strategic approach and in this talk I will highlight key considerations for publishing effective public health dashboards using R Shiny.

Accessibility is the first critical element of a public-facing dashboard. While the performance and reactivity may shine if the dashboard is difficult to read or decipher it risks being overlooked. Designing with optimized contrast and typography in mind ensures that your dashboard can reach all users and won't be dismissed at first glance.

Next consider how users will interact with the data and content. While interactive hover boxes and dynamic plots are engaging and can draw users in to keep users engaged users will want to download the data for analysis in their own workflows. Integrating CSV downloads and filtered data views can add value to your dashboard.

Finally don't overlook the importance of a robust iterative review process. From spotting spelling errors to ensuring plots reflect accurate data continued testing is essential. How will you know if your dashboard is meeting expectations? Regular internal and external review along with a robust user feedback loop can provide invaluable insights to help refine features and improve usability. In this talk I will walk through our review process and share techniques for integrating feedback into your R dashboard development process.

Ariane Erickson headshot
Pronouns: she/her
Portland, OR, USA
Ariane Erickson is a public health data scientist who builds R-powered dashboards and analytic tools to support data-driven decision-making. She currently leads data projects for Oregon's prescription drug monitoring and injury prevention programs. Before transitioning to public health, she earned a PhD in materials engineering with a focus on cancer biomaterials and led R&D at a medical device startup. Her work bridges the gap between research and real-world impact.