Data Viz Today 99: You Can Make Better BANs! — Featuring Steve Wexler
Nov 20, 2025
In this insightful discussion, Steve Wexler, founder of Data Revelations and co-author of 'Dashboards That Deliver', shares his expertise on crafting effective BANs (Big Ass Numbers). He emphasizes the importance of context around these numbers to elicit the right reactions from users. Steve showcases examples from visual data wizards like Nicholas Felton to illustrate how BANs can lead to deeper insights. He also offers practical tips on using color, compact context techniques, and user testing to enhance dashboard clarity without clutter.
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Lonely Numbers Need Context
- Numbers alone are 'lonely' and don't tell users whether to celebrate or panic.
- Context (compare to last year, goal, trend) turns a number into meaningful information.
Dashboards Must Trigger A Reaction
- Dashboards should prompt a clear reaction: celebrate, panic, or ignore today.
- If a dashboard doesn't drive action or awareness, it's not delivering value.
Add Minimal Contextual Elements
- Add simple contextual elements like a colored dot, bar with reference line, or sparkline next to a BAN.
- These fit in the same space and immediately tell users if the number is above goal or trending well.
