The first thing to consider when creating a new dashboard is what data you want to have represented. At the end of the day, a dashboard is only as valuable as the information that it provides. So the first step is to determine what data is most relevant to the business question I am trying to answer. For the purposes of this book, I will be using the sample data of IBM Cognos, and I will be creating a sales dashboard.

When you first click on Create New, you will see a blank canvas that will show Drag objects from the content pane to the canvas to create a dashboard. You can also right-click an object to insert it at the center, as shown in the following screenshot:

The right-hand side of this screen contains the insertable content. There are a few areas to consider. The search area will allow you to search for content that may be relevant for your dashboard. You can also navigate the content. If you choose the drop-down arrow next to All Content, you will...