MSP - Dashboard Overview

A brief overview of navigation and use of the shared dashboards for Michigan State Police.

Greg Olsen avatar
Written by Greg Olsen
Updated over a week ago

Michigan State Police has worked to create several Dashboards to help visualize and share crash reporting information with key stakeholders throughout the state.

Each of these dashboards focuses on specific emphasis areas and provide users with detailed, filterable information regarding each emphasis area. Currently, the following dashboards are available for use:

  • Crash Summary

  • Alcohol Involved

  • Animal Involved

  • Bicycle Involved

  • Children (ages: 0-14) Involved

  • Distracted Driving

  • Drug Involved

  • Elderly Driver (ages: 60+) Involved

  • Marihuana/Cannabinoid Involved

  • Motorcycle Involved

  • Pedestrian Involved

  • Red Light Running Involved

  • Seat Belt Use

  • School Bus Involved

  • Speeding Involved

  • Truck/Bus Involved

  • Young Driver (ages: 15-24) Involved

How to Navigate a Dashboard

While the content of each dashboard is unique, the use and navigation of each dashboard is the same.

Each Dashboard is composed of three main areas: The search bar, the filter sidebar, and the Metrics.

(The MSP Crash Summary Dashboard with the Search Bar (Green), Filter Sidebar (Blue), and Metrics (Orange) Highlighted.)

At the top of each Dashboard is the search bar. The search bar serves two main functions: it displays the current filters that are applied to the Dashboard, and it allows users to search for additional filters to apply to the Dashboard.

When you open each Dashboard, there is automatically a date range filter applied. This can be modified by clicking on the date range, and selecting a new date for the filter.

Any time a new filter is added, either through the Search Bar, the Filter Sidebar, or by clicking on a chart, it will be displayed in the Search Bar.

Any filter can be modified by clicking on any part of the filter. In the example below, I am changing the year range from 2017 - 2019, to 2016 - 2019.

(Changing the Year range from 2017 - 2019, to 2016 - 2019 in the Introduction Tab of the MSP Crash Summary Dashboard)

Additional filters can be added using the search bar by clicking on the Add Filter button, and typing to search for a filter. In the example below, I am adding a filter to only display crashes in which Younger Drivers were involved by typing the word Young into the filter bar, and selecting Young Driver Involved T/F from the dropdown.

(Searching for, and selecting the Young Driver Involved filter to the When Tab of the MSP Crash Summary dashboard.)

Any filter can be removed by clicking on the X next to the filter.

The filterbar will remain persistent across a Dashboard, meaning if you apply a filter, you can navigate between tabs in that dashboard without having to reset your filters each time.

Note that filters are reset each time a new Dashboard is opened.

Filter Sidebar

The Filter Sidebar contains many of the most frequently used filters available in easy-to-use dropdown menus. To apply a filter from the sidebar, simply click on the dropdown menu, and select the filter from the list. You can either scroll through the list and select the option, or begin typing to easily find what you are looking for.

In the example below, I am adding a city filter to display only the information for the city of Ann Arbor.

(Selecting the City of Ann Arbor from the Filter Sidebar in the Where Tab of the MSP Crash Summary Dashboard.)

Metrics

The Metrics section of a Dashboard displays the data in a chart, graph, or metric. Each component of the Dashboard updates automatically to reflect any filters that are applied to the Dashboard. When you first open a Dashboard, only a date-range filter is applied, as well as a filter to remove all non-traffic crashes, so you are viewing the crash data for the entire state of Michigan, in the specified date range.

(The Where Tab of the Bicycle Involved Dashboard with the default year filters applied.)

When a location filter is applied, each metric updates to reflect the newly applied filter. In the example below, I am adding a location filter for Van Buren County to the dashboard. Notice that the same metrics are present in both images, only the data has updated to reflect the filter change.

(Adding the Van Buren County filter to the Where Tab of the Bicycle Involved Dashboard)

Additionally, most of the charts in a Dashboard can serve as interactive filters. By clicking on an element of a chart, you can apply the selected element as a filter to a chart. In the example below, I am clicking on the Driver Age: Under 21 bar, and it is applied to the entire Dashboard as a filter. Notice the color change in the selected element of the chart, as well as the additional filter in the search bar at the top of the screen.

Clicking on the same element again will remove the filter.

(Selecting the Driver Age: Under 21 Metric, from the Who Tab of the Bicycle Involved Dashboard)

Most dashboards contain different tabs of data, users can navigate between tabs of data by clicking on the tab, located just beneath the search bar. Switching tabs will not impact any filters you may have applied. It will only change the charts that are displayed in the metrics section of the Dashboard.

(Navigating between the Who And When Tabs of the Bicycle Involved dashboard)

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