On March 24th and 25th two of my favorite Xcelsius experts will be conduction the Xcelsius Advanced Developer Workshop in Dallas. This two day workshop will fill up quickly, so if you are looking to take your dashboard development skills to a new level, this is a great opportunity to learn from the best.

Learn how to enhance your data models with advanced Excel functions
• Learn powerful dashboard design and charting techniques
• Learn tricks that will help to optimize the performance of your Xcelsius dashboards
• Gain a solid understanding of XML and XML connectivity in Xcelsius
• Create server-based logins for your Xcelsius dashboards
• Learn how to pass parameters from one Xcelsius dashboard to another
• Learn how create detailed drill-throughs in Xcelsius using encoded URLs
• Learn how to use your Xcelsius dashboards to write back to your server

Learn more and reserve you spot here!

Last year, I was approached to share some of my experiences and successes within the Xcelsius community, specifically with Xcelsius and GMaps Plugin. The result from the interview was a highly polished video produced and released by SAP Business Objects.

Apple recently announced their iPad which does not include Adobe Flash player, which is a bold move considering it will negatively impact consumer’s web browsing experience. Steve Jobs himself demoed the New York Times website with blank boxes that normally render flash content.

This move along with continued non-support of Flash on mobile devices will certainly affect organization’s usage of Flash on public facing websites, which will ultimately impact the adoption of future Flash Player releases if this continues long enough.

Adobe’s poor attention to long lasting security and performance concerns and lack of foresight to step up mobile Flash Player development has put them in catch up mode. As someone who uses Flash-based content every day, I think some of the performance concerns are over-stated since I know that a properly designed application does provide acceptable performance on a desktop PC. I am not actively testing Flash Player 10.1, but I hope all hands are on deck to calm the growing concerns about the future of Flash.

Flash technology is deeply engrained within many web-based applications by a devoted development and creative community who develop content. As these software giants continue to take swipes at each other to gain market share and appease market analysts, sometimes they leave a mess in their wake. At the end of the day innovation and competition ultimately benefit consumers, so I look forward to seeing where this goes!

I would love to hear insight from others who have been following this saga…

As a visual thinker, one of my favorite tools for organizing my thoughts is a white board. The problem with a standard white board is no matter how big it is, I always seem to fill it up. After acquiring a new office space, I found a product called IdeaPaint which enabled us to transform over 350 square feet of wall space into giant white boards. We have big ideas, and now have room to sketch them out on our IdeaPaint treated walls. If you have a conference room or small office, it is definitely well worth the money to empower your visual thinkers. >Visit IdeaPaint

This photo is not me

If you happen to purchase paint from these guys, let me know.

There is an old saying that owning paint and brushes does not make you a painter. This is the same case for building dashboards. I often see resumes of individuals who credit themselves as experts in Xcelsius and unfortunately customers mistake technology expertise for proficiency in dashboard design; which is two different things. Xcelsius is a free-form development environment requiring skills above and beyond technical aptitude to create meaningful content. A dashboard designer who uses Xcelsius should understand basic business performance management concepts and then know how to visually organize this information for an end user to consume. Dashboard development borrows concepts from multiple facets of design including but not limited to software architecture, user interface, and data visualization. An individual who arranges Xcelsius components on a canvas without strong grasp of these concepts is the equivalent of a painter trying to create a piece while blindfolded. Unfortunately there are customers who have paid a significant amount of money for Xcelsius dashboards created by individuals who recently added Xcelsius to their resume.

There is certainly a learning curve for Xcelsius just like any software application but new users require education in design techniques much more than technology. I have been designing dashboard applications for years and I still learn from experts like Stephen Few and others who write and share experiences, and from customers who share their performance management standards through various projects. The good news for any new Xcelsius developers who want to refine their design approach is there is a ton of reading available on web sites and blogs like Dashboard Insight. For customers who are searching for dashboard developers, you should definitely educate yourselves on these same web sites so you can ask the right questions and ensure that the person building content for your business users and executives is not the equivalent to a blind painter.

I work with many excellent independent designers or companies, who specialize in dashboard design, so if you are in the category, feel free to comment and provide a link to your organization. If you have any questions about any of the companies who provide their information below, feel free to contact me directly.