
Having a solid Azure DevOps dashboard is crucial for making informed data-driven decisions. A well-designed dashboard can help you track key performance indicators, identify trends, and optimize your development processes.
In this section, we'll explore some real-world Azure DevOps dashboard examples that will inspire you to create your own. For instance, the Azure DevOps dashboard example for a software development company showcased a Kanban board that displayed the team's work items, including bugs, features, and user stories.
A good Azure DevOps dashboard should be easy to read and understand. This is evident in the Azure DevOps dashboard example for a financial services company, which used a combination of charts and tables to display key metrics, such as deployment frequency and lead time.
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Choose A Focus
Choosing a focus for your Azure DevOps dashboard is crucial to ensure it provides the right insights to the right people. The focus of your dashboard determines whether you create a team or project dashboard.
To determine the focus, consider the information needs of your intended audience. You want your dashboard to provide insights and help identify actions to take.
There are several types of dashboards you might want to create, including a stakeholder dashboard, personal dashboard, team dashboard, sprint dashboard, release dashboard, and test and deploy dashboard.
Here are some key differences between these types of dashboards:
By understanding the focus of your dashboard, you can create a tailored experience that meets the needs of your team and stakeholders.
Configuring the Dashboard
When a team gets created, a default dashboard named Overview also gets created without any widgets. You can edit and rename this default dashboard.
To customize your dashboard, review the Out Of Box widget catalog, which lists the widgets that are configurable for a single team or multiple teams.
The default dashboard is always a Team dashboard, so you can use it as a starting point to add widgets that suit your needs.
Data and Reporting
Dashboards are customizable interactive signboards that provide real-time information, associated with a team or a project and display configurable charts and widgets.
You can create dashboards for test results in Azure DevOps by following these steps. In-context reports are system-generated charts that support specific services, such as team velocity, sprint burndown, the Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD), and the Test failures report.
These reports are displayed on the Analytics tab for a specific service and derive data from Analytics. Charts and widgets can be added to dashboards, providing a wide range of information and visualizations.
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Data Views and Reports
Data views and reports in Azure DevOps offer a range of features to help you visualize and track your data. You can create customizable dashboards that provide real-time information.
Dashboards are interactive signboards associated with a team or project that display configurable charts and widgets. You can add widgets from the Azure DevOps Marketplace to enhance your dashboard.
Charts in Azure DevOps are query-based status or trend charts derived from a work item query or test results. They're a great way to visualize your data and track progress.
Widgets are items that display configurable information and charts on dashboards. The widget catalog provides brief descriptions of the available widgets.
In-context reports are system-generated charts that support specific services, such as team velocity and sprint burndown. These reports are displayed on the Analytics tab for a specific service and derive data from Analytics.
Here are some key features of Azure DevOps data views and reports:
- Dashboards: Customizable interactive signboards that provide real-time information.
- Charts: Query-based status or trend charts derived from a work item query or test results.
- Widgets: Items that display configurable information and charts on dashboards.
- In-context reports: System-generated charts that support specific services.
You can add in-context work tracking reports to a dashboard by copying them from the Analytics tab and selecting a dashboard from the dropdown menu. This allows you to track your work and progress in real-time.
Flat-List Query
Creating a flat-list query is a crucial step in preparing your data for charting. Always select the Flat list of work items query type, as other query types aren't supported for charting.
To add fields to your query, include the corresponding field in your query clause or column options. This will allow you to group charts by any field except date-time, free-form text, and tag fields.
If you want to sum a numeric column, include the corresponding field in your query clause or column options. For example, you can sum a numeric column to display the total value in your chart.
To save your query for future use, consider saving it as a Shared query. This will allow you to easily add your query to a dashboard later on.
Charts will display in browsers that support Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), including Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer 9 and later versions, Chrome, Firefox, and Safari on Mac. Unfortunately, charts aren't optimized for mobile or touch displays.
Here are the browsers that support chart display:
- Microsoft Edge
- Internet Explorer 9 and later versions
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Safari on Mac
Work Tracking and Trends
Work tracking and trends are crucial aspects of any project. You can create various charts to monitor status, progress, and trends using flat-list queries.
Azure Boards provides several in-context reports that derive from Analytics data. These reports are interactive, allowing each user to view the data in their preferred format.
To create a chart, you can open a shared query, create a chart, and add it to the dashboard. You can choose from multiple chart types, including pie, bar, column, stacked bar, and pivot for status charts, and stacked area, line, and area for trend charts.
You can add work item queries and charts to a dashboard from the Queries page. To do this, select Boards > Queries > Charts, and then choose a dashboard to add the chart to.
Trend charts let you view progress over time, and you can select a rolling period ranging from the last week to the last year. Trend data is extracted from the work tracking data store.
You can also add in-context work tracking reports to a dashboard by copying them from the report's context menu.
Here are some common types of charts you can use for work tracking and trends:
Pie charts: Show the distribution of work items across different categories.Bar charts: Display the count or sum of work items over time.Column charts: Similar to bar charts, but with a different layout.Stacked bar charts: Show the cumulative count or sum of work items over time.Pivot charts: Allow you to rotate the data to see different perspectives.Stacked area charts: Display the cumulative count or sum of work items over time, with each category stacked on top of the previous one.Line charts: Show the trend of work items over time.Area charts: Similar to line charts, but with a filled area.
These charts can be added to a dashboard to provide real-time information and help you track progress and trends.
Expand your knowledge: Azure Devops Gantt Chart
Agile and Project Management
Agile and Project Management is a crucial aspect of Azure DevOps, allowing teams to deliver software quickly and reliably.
Azure Boards provides a flexible framework for Kanban and Scrum boards, enabling teams to visualize their workflow and track progress.
In a Kanban board, work items are organized into columns representing different stages of development, such as To-Do, In Progress, and Done.
With Azure Boards, teams can also use Scrum boards to implement sprint planning, backlog refinement, and burndown charts.
Sprint planning allows teams to break down work into manageable chunks, set realistic goals, and prioritize tasks based on business value and risk.
Burndown charts visualize the amount of work remaining in a sprint, helping teams stay on track and make data-driven decisions.
By using Azure Boards, teams can streamline their workflow, improve collaboration, and deliver high-quality software faster.
The Azure Pipelines feature integrates with Azure Boards, allowing teams to automate their build, test, and deployment processes.
With Azure Pipelines, teams can create continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines that automate testing, building, and deployment of software.
CI/CD pipelines can be triggered automatically when code changes are pushed to a repository, ensuring that software is always in a releasable state.
A fresh viewpoint: Azure Kanban Board
Pipeline and Build Management
In Azure DevOps, you can get a clear picture of your pipeline and build performance with in-context reports. These reports are derived from Analytics data and provide valuable insights into your pipeline and test data.
To view these reports, open a pipeline or release summary for Test failures, and select the Analytics tab. You can also view a detailed report by selecting "View full report" on a summary card.
You can access the following in-context Analytics reports for pipeline runs: Historical graph for agent pools (preview), Pipeline pass rate report, Test pass rate report, Pipeline duration report, Test analytics for builds, and Test analytics for releases.
Here are some of the key reports you can access:
- Pipeline pass rate report
- Test pass rate report
- Pipeline duration report
- Test analytics for builds
- Test analytics for releases
You can also use Power BI and OData to create custom reports based on pipeline and test data. For more information, see the Overview of sample reports using OData queries.
Reporting and Visualization
Azure DevOps dashboards offer a range of features to help you visualize and track your team's progress.
You can create custom dashboards that provide real-time information and display configurable charts and widgets. Dashboards are associated with a team or a project and can be used to track team velocity, sprint burndown, and other key metrics.
To add an in-context work tracking report to a dashboard, simply open the report, select the actions icon, and choose "Copy to Dashboard." You can then select a dashboard from the dropdown menu and configure the size or change other chart properties as needed.
Some examples of in-context reports include the Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) and the Test failures report. These reports are displayed on the Analytics tab for a specific service and derive data from Analytics.
Cumulative Flow Diagram Widget
The Cumulative Flow Diagram widget is a powerful tool for visualizing team velocity and workflow. It's a type of in-context report that provides a snapshot of your team's progress.
You can use the interactive controls to choose the time frame, swimlanes, and workflow states or board columns. This level of customization allows you to tailor the widget to your team's specific needs.
The Cumulative Flow Diagram widget is displayed on the Analytics tab for a specific service and derives data from Analytics. This means you can easily access it from the right place.
You can add the Cumulative Flow Diagram widget to a dashboard by using the copy to dashboard option from the report's context menu. This makes it easy to integrate the widget into your existing reporting setup.
However, you might find that the Cumulative Flow Diagram widget can't be added directly to a dashboard. In this case, you can look for a comparable widget in the widget catalog that tracks the same or similar data.
Intriguing read: Azure Devops Architecture Diagram
Pie Chart
Pie charts are a great way to visualize group percentages. They're perfect for showing how different categories contribute to a whole.
Use a pie chart to show group percentages with six or fewer categories. This is especially useful for showing the status of bugs, user stories, or progress.
A good example of a pie chart is showing Active Bugs Status, grouped by State. You can also use it to show User Story Status, grouped by State, or User Story Progress, grouped by Completed, In Progress, or Cut.
In practice, a pie chart can help you quickly see the distribution of different states in your data. For instance, if you're tracking user stories, a pie chart can help you see how many are in each state, such as Cut, In Progress, or Completed.
Here are some examples of how to use pie charts in reporting and visualization:
- Active Bugs Status, group by State
- User Story Status, group by State
- User Story Progress, group by Completed, In Progress, or Cut
Introduction and Getting Started
Azure DevOps is an incredibly powerful tool for software development teams, offering a wide range of capabilities to streamline your workflow.
The platform includes version control, project planning, build automation, testing, and release management, making it a one-stop-shop for all your development needs.
You can use Azure Pipelines to run tests, which is a great feature for ensuring your code is stable and reliable.
Azure DevOps also provides support for dashboarding, allowing you to visually represent data from your project and gain valuable insights.
This is especially useful for tracking test results and identifying areas for improvement.
With Azure DevOps, you can create dashboards of test results to help you make data-driven decisions and optimize your development process.
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