---
title: "What are Dashboards?"
description: "A dashboard is a visual interface that combines metrics, KPIs, and visualizations from one or more sources so users can judge performance against a goal at a glance. It acts as an organized, live visual layer over databases, warehouses, cloud applications, spreadsheets, or other sources, rather than being merely a collection of individual charts or reports. A typical flow sends source data through a query or pipeline into a visualization layer; modern dashboards may query underlying data directly and refresh on a schedule or in real time, avoiding stale copied data and definition drift associated with older extract-based architectures. Filters and drill-downs support investigation, while dashboard types—operational, analytical, strategic, and tactical—differ by audience, time horizon, and update frequency; usefulness ultimately depends on a clear purpose, defined audience, trusted data, and enough context for action."
---

# What are Dashboards?

[Databricks](https://yomu.fyi/company/databricks) · Databricks Staff · Jun 24, 2026

**Type:** Explainer

## Summary

A dashboard is a visual interface that combines metrics, KPIs, and visualizations from one or more sources so users can judge performance against a goal at a glance. It acts as an organized, live visual layer over databases, warehouses, cloud applications, spreadsheets, or other sources, rather than being merely a collection of individual charts or reports. A typical flow sends source data through a query or pipeline into a visualization layer; modern dashboards may query underlying data directly and refresh on a schedule or in real time, avoiding stale copied data and definition drift associated with older extract-based architectures. Filters and drill-downs support investigation, while dashboard types—operational, analytical, strategic, and tactical—differ by audience, time horizon, and update frequency; usefulness ultimately depends on a clear purpose, defined audience, trusted data, and enough context for action.

## Context

Dashboards organize growing volumes of organizational data into a single view for monitoring performance, investigating results, supporting decisions, and tracking specific business or analytical outcomes. Their proliferation has made purpose, audience, design, and data freshness increasingly consequential.

## Approach / What changed

The explainer defines dashboards as visual layers over underlying data sources, describes the flow from source through queries or pipelines to visualizations, and distinguishes dashboard types, components, interaction patterns, and live views from reports. It also frames effectiveness around clear purpose, audience, trusted data, and actionable context.

## Takeaways

- Modern dashboards typically query underlying data directly and refresh on a schedule or in real time, unlike older architectures that extracted, transformed, and loaded copied data that could become stale or develop definition drift.
- Operational, analytical, strategic, and tactical dashboards serve different audiences and time horizons, but the categories can overlap; a single dashboard may support multiple uses through features such as filters and drill-downs.
- Core dashboard components include KPI tiles, charts, filters, drill-downs, threshold indicators, annotations, and comparison elements that provide context for interpreting metrics.

**Tags:** [Data Analytics](https://yomu.fyi/topic/data-analytics)

- Source: [Databricks](https://www.databricks.com/blog/what-are-dashboards)
- Source URL: https://www.databricks.com/blog/what-are-dashboards
- Ingested by Yomu: 2026-08-30T17:00:10.730Z

[Read original post](https://www.databricks.com/blog/what-are-dashboards)