Dashboard widgets are individual visual components within a BI dashboard. Each widget displays a specific piece of information, such as a metric, chart, table, or alert.

Common widget types include:

• KPI cards

• Line charts

• Bar charts

• Tables

• Gauges

• Filters and slicers

Widgets allow dashboards to be modular and customizable. Each widget answers a specific question and contributes to the overall narrative of the dashboard.

From a design perspective, effective widgets:

• Have a clear purpose

• Use appropriate chart types

• Avoid unnecessary decoration

• Display context (units, time range)

Technically, widgets query data models or semantic layers. Their performance depends on data modeling, indexing, and aggregation strategies.

Poorly designed widgets can mislead users or slow dashboards. Overloaded dashboards with too many widgets reduce clarity and adoption.

Modern BI tools allow widgets to be interactive, supporting cross-filtering, drill-down, and alerts.

Dashboard widgets are the building blocks of BI experiences. When thoughtfully designed, they turn raw data into actionable insight.