# Boards Best Practices

## Overview

Boards are a powerful tool within Lumi designed to address frequently asked questions and monitor critical metrics. They enable users to organize, visualize, and share key data insights across an organization, ensuring everyone has access to the most current information.

Learn more about [Boards](https://docs.lumi-ai.com/product-features/boards). 

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## When to use Boards?

* [x] **Automate Frequently Asked Questions:** Use boards to display answers to commonly asked questions that need regular updating, such as sales figures, open orders, and trending products.
* [x] **Monitor Critical Metrics:** Use boards to track important metrics, identify trends, and detect outliers. Boards help visualize data efficiently, making it easier to monitor performance.
* [x] **Share Insights:** Use boards to facilitate the sharing of insights within an organization, ensuring all team members have access to consistent and up-to-date information.&#x20;
* [x] **Support Data-Driven Decisions:** Use boards to analyze trends and insights from monitored data to make informed strategic decisions and improve business outcomes.

## Best Practices

* [x] **Lock in and Refresh Insights:** Regularly refresh the data on boards to ensure the most current information is available. This keeps the insights relevant and reliable for decision-making.
* [x] **Visualize Key Data:** Use different types of visualizations to highlight important information and detect outliers. Tailor the board layout to meet your team's needs.
* [x] **Organize Content Effectively:** Resize cards to fit rows or columns. Expanded cards display more properties and adapt to the data type for better visualization and understanding.
* [x] **Ensure Data Accuracy:** Review the data sources and queries used in your boards to maintain accuracy. This helps prevent stale or incorrect data from affecting decisions.
* [x] **Incorporate Feedback:** Gather input from board users to continuously improve the boards' relevance and usability. Adjust content and layout based on user feedback.
* [x] **Maintain Board Relevance:** Regularly update boards to reflect current business priorities and metrics. Remove outdated cards and add new ones to align with organizational goals.
* [x] **Make Sure the Board Tells a Story:** Structure your board to present a clear narrative. This helps ensure insights are easily understood and actionable, aiding in informed decision-making.

## Board Feature Highlights

For a functional guide to boards please review [here](https://docs.lumi-ai.com/product-features/boards).&#x20;

* **Create Board:** Boards can be created through chat or on the board menu.&#x20;
* **Add Cards:** Add content directly to boards or through chat, with chat offering more controls for complex responses and refined interactions.
* **Expand Card:** Drill into more details and uncover a deeper understanding by expanding cards.
* **Publish Boards:** Creators can publish and share the board with all users with access to the knowledge base.&#x20;
* **Refresh Insights:** Refresh the board on command, ensuring accurate and comprehensive analysis.
* **View Summary:** A report summary highlights the key insights from each card.

> ### <mark style="color:red;">Debugging</mark>
>
> A status symbol will indicate if a card failed to refresh. Hovering over the symbol displays how outdated the last successful state is. Refresh failures typically occur due to changes in the knowledge base. If done accidentally, the KB can be adjusted back. If the change is permanent, the card must be removed and regenerated in chat or directly on the board.