Built another exec dashboard last month with all the usual metrics - MAU, retention, LTV, conversion rates.
They looked at it once during the meeting then went back to asking for the same random data pulls they always want.
What actually gets executives to use dashboards for real decisions instead of just quarterly check-ins?
Show them money. Revenue today vs last month vs target.
Build it around the questions they actually ask you.
I stopped putting standard metrics on exec dashboards after watching three different CEOs ignore them. Instead, I tracked what they asked me in Slack for two weeks.
Turns out they wanted weird stuff like “how many users from that TikTok campaign are still active” or “which cities have the highest paying customers.”
Now I put those specific answers right on the dashboard. They use it because it saves them from bugging me every week.
Focus on what they can actually control and act on tomorrow.
I learned this when my dashboards kept getting ignored. Executives don’t want to see problems they can’t fix right away.
Instead of showing retention dropped 5%, show them which marketing channels are bringing in users that stick around. Give them something they can pause, increase, or change with one email to their team.
Make it dead simple. Three big numbers they care about and nothing else.
Put context around the numbers. Raw metrics mean nothing to executives who make budget decisions. Instead of showing conversion rate is 3.2%, show them that it means we need $50K more ad spend to hit quarterly targets. Or that fixing the onboarding flow could save $30K in acquisition costs. They start paying attention when every metric connects to dollars they control.