What is the first step you should take before adding artifacts to a dashboard?

Before adding artifacts to a dashboard, the most logical first step is to gather and clean the data. This is a crucial phase in the data analysis process because, without high-quality and accurate data, any visualizations or representations will be flawed or misleading. Cleaning the data involves identifying and rectifying errors, handling missing values, and ensuring the data is in a suitable format for analysis. Once the data is properly collected and prepped, it sets a solid foundation for the subsequent steps in creating an effective dashboard.

The choice to gather and clean the data first ensures that the information displayed is reliable and relevant, making it easier to select appropriate visualizations and design a layout that effectively communicates insights. Moving directly to layout design or visualization without first ensuring the data's integrity can lead to wasted effort and ineffective communication of the results.