What are the best practices for vendor risk management dashboard design?

1 Define your audience and purpose

Before you start designing your VRM dashboard, you need to know who will use it and why. Different audiences may have different needs, expectations, and preferences for the dashboard. For example, senior executives may want a high-level overview of the vendor risk profile and key indicators, while operational managers may need more detailed and granular information on specific vendors and issues. Therefore, you should define your audience and purpose clearly and tailor your dashboard accordingly.

2 Choose the right metrics and data sources

The next step is to select the metrics and data sources that will measure and reflect your vendor risk management goals and performance. You should choose metrics that are relevant, reliable, accurate, and consistent. You should also ensure that the data sources are credible, timely, and accessible. Some examples of common VRM metrics are vendor compliance rate, vendor risk rating, vendor incident frequency, vendor service level achievement, and vendor satisfaction score.

3 Design for clarity and simplicity

A good VRM dashboard should be clear and simple to understand and use. You should avoid cluttering your dashboard with too many elements, colors, or charts that may confuse or distract your users. You should also use clear and consistent labels, legends, and formats for your dashboard components. You should also use appropriate visualizations that match the type and purpose of your data. For example, you can use pie charts to show proportions, bar charts to show comparisons, line charts to show trends, and heat maps to show risk levels.

4 Provide context and insights

A VRM dashboard should not only show the data, but also provide context and insights that help your users interpret and act on the data. You should provide benchmarks, targets, thresholds, or ranges that indicate the desired or acceptable levels of performance or risk for your metrics. You should also provide filters, drill-downs, or links that allow your users to explore the data further and find the root causes or drivers of the issues. You should also highlight the key takeaways, recommendations, or actions that your users should take based on the data.

5 Test and refine your dashboard

The final step is to test and refine your dashboard before you launch it. You should solicit feedback from your users and stakeholders on the usability, functionality, and value of your dashboard. You should also monitor and evaluate the performance and impact of your dashboard on your VRM outcomes and processes. You should make adjustments and improvements as needed to ensure that your dashboard meets your objectives and expectations.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?