Use Cases
Common Use Cases
Real-world examples of how teams use Dashboard Templates, Charts, Graphs & Reports for Jira to visualize their work, track progress, and make faster decisions.
1. Sprint Dashboard
Who: Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, Development Teams When: Sprint planning, daily standups, sprint reviews
What It Shows
A complete view of the current sprint - what's done, what's in progress, what's blocked, and how much work remains.
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Charts (Pie) | Data: Current Sprint JQL sprint in openSprints() - Chart By: Status | Sprint status distribution at a glance |
| Custom Charts (Bar) | Data: Same sprint - Chart By: Assignee - Calculation: Count | Work distribution across team members |
| Custom Charts (Tile) | Data: Sprint JQL - Chart By: Custom JQL segments (Done vs Total) | Story point completion percentage |
| Issue List | Data: Sprint JQL - Columns: Key, Summary, Status, Assignee, Story Points | Full sprint backlog with click-through to issues |
| Dynamic Filter Controller | Data: Sprint JQL - Fields: Assignee, Status, Priority | Let team members filter by their own name |
Configuration Tips
- Use
sprint in openSprints()as your base JQL to always show the current sprint - Add a Goal Line to the bar chart at your sprint velocity target (e.g., 40 story points)
- Connect all gadgets to the Dynamic Filter Controller so the whole dashboard updates when a team member filters by their name
- Add Smart Labels to the Issue List for "Blocked" (
labels = blocked) and "High Priority" (priority in (High, Highest))
2. Bug Tracking Dashboard
Who: QA Leads, Engineering Managers, Release Managers When: Active development sprints, pre-release periods, production incident tracking
What It Shows
A focused view of all open bugs - by severity, age, assignment status, and component.
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Charts (Pie) | Data: issuetype = Bug AND resolution is EMPTY - Chart By: Priority | Bug severity distribution |
| Custom Charts (Bar) | Data: Open bugs - Chart By: Assignee | Bug ownership per developer |
| Custom Charts (Stacked Bar) | Data: Open bugs - Chart By: Component - Group By: Priority | Priority mix per component |
| Custom Charts (Line) | Data: issuetype = Bug AND created >= -90d - Chart By: Created (by Week) | Bug creation trend over 90 days |
| Time in Status | Data: Bugs resolved in the last 90 days - Report Type: Average Time - Duration display format: Business Decimal Days | Which stage holds bugs longest - usually triage or waiting-for-customer |
| Issue List | Data: Open bugs - Columns: Key, Summary, Priority, Status, Assignee, Created, Component | Full bug list sortable by priority |
Configuration Tips
- Set Chart By to Priority for the pie chart and map colors: Highest = red, High = orange, Medium = yellow
- Add a Quick Filter to the Issue List: "Unassigned" (
assignee is EMPTY) to quickly spot untriaged bugs - Use the Stacked Bar chart to identify which components have the highest proportion of critical bugs
- Add a Trend Line to the line chart to see if bug volume is increasing or decreasing
3. Team Workload Dashboard
Who: Engineering Managers, Team Leads, Project Managers When: Weekly team reviews, capacity planning, identifying overloaded team members
What It Shows
Who has what - a clear picture of work distribution across the team to spot imbalances before they become problems.
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Charts (Bar) | Data: project = X AND resolution is EMPTY - Chart By: Assignee | Issue count per team member |
| Custom Charts (Grouped Bar) | Data: Same - Chart By: Assignee - Group By: Status | Work stage breakdown per person |
| Custom Charts (Stacked Bar) | Data: Same - Chart By: Assignee - Group By: Priority | Priority distribution per person |
| Custom Charts (Bar) | Data: Same - Chart By: Assignee - Calculation: Sum of Story Points | Story point load per person |
| Pivot Table | Row: Assignee, Column: Status - Aggregation: Count - Display: Table Row Heatmap | Who is carrying the most work, and in which stage - readable without counting |
| Issue List | Data: Same - Columns: Assignee, Key, Summary, Status, Priority, Due Date | Full team work queue |
Configuration Tips
- Add an Average Line to the issue count bar chart - immediately shows who is above/below team average
- Use Sum of Story Points calculation to compare actual work complexity, not just ticket count
- Add a Quick Filter "Due This Week" (
duedate >= startOfWeek() AND duedate <= endOfWeek()) to the Issue List - Connect all gadgets to a Dynamic Filter Controller with an Assignee field - managers can click a name to see that person's view
4. Release Readiness Dashboard
Who: Release Managers, Product Owners, Engineering Managers When: Pre-release week, release gate reviews, stakeholder sign-off meetings
What It Shows
Everything needed to decide if the release is ready - open blockers, remaining work by component, fix version status, and resolved vs unresolved ratio.
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Charts (Pie) | Data: fixVersion = "v2.0" - Chart By: Custom JQL (Done vs Not Done) | Overall release completion percentage |
| Custom Charts (Stacked Bar) | Data: Fix version JQL - Chart By: Component - Group By: Status | Completion by component |
| Custom Charts (Tile) | Data: fixVersion = "v2.0" AND priority = Highest AND resolution is EMPTY - Chart By: Status | Critical open blockers count |
| Issue List | Data: fixVersion = "v2.0" AND resolution is EMPTY AND priority in (Highest, High) - Columns: Key, Summary, Priority, Status, Assignee | High-priority outstanding items |
| Custom Charts (Line) | Data: Fix version JQL - Chart By: Resolved (by Day) | Resolution velocity trend |
Configuration Tips
- Create JQL segments for the pie chart: "Done" (
resolution is not EMPTY) and "Remaining" (resolution is EMPTY) - Set a Goal Line on the line chart at your target daily resolution rate
- Use Smart Labels in the Issue List for "Blocker" (
labels = blocker) and "Needs QA" (status = "Ready for QA") - Share this dashboard with stakeholders using Jira's dashboard sharing - they can view without edit access
5. Executive KPI Dashboard
Who: VPs, Directors, C-Suite, Senior Stakeholders When: Weekly/monthly reviews, board meetings, OKR check-ins
What It Shows
High-level metrics without noise - the numbers that matter to leadership, presented cleanly without Jira-specific terminology.
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Charts (Tile) | Data: project in (X, Y, Z) AND resolution is EMPTY | Total open issues across all projects |
| Custom Charts (Tile) | Data: issuetype = Bug AND priority = Highest AND resolution is EMPTY | Critical open bugs |
| Custom Charts (Tile) | Data: sprint in openSprints() AND resolution is not EMPTY | Issues resolved this sprint |
| Custom Charts (Bar) | Data: created >= -12w - Chart By: Created (by Month) | Issue creation trend (last 3 months) |
| Custom Charts (Stacked Bar) | Data: Multi-project - Chart By: Project - Group By: Status | Cross-project health overview |
Configuration Tips
- Use Tile charts for the top row - one number per tile, large and clear
- Rename segment labels to business-friendly terms (e.g., rename "In Progress" to "Active Work")
- Set the title of each gadget clearly (e.g., "Open Critical Bugs" not "Priority = Highest, resolution is EMPTY")
- Use the Description tab to add context below charts (e.g., "As of last refresh - click Refresh to update")
- Export the dashboard view as PDF for board packs and email updates
6. Support & Service Desk Dashboard
Who: Support Leads, Customer Success Managers, Operations Teams When: Daily team huddles, SLA review meetings, capacity planning
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Charts (Funnel) | Data: All open support tickets - Chart By: Status (ordered by workflow) | Ticket pipeline visualization |
| Custom Charts (Bar) | Data: created >= -7d - Chart By: Assignee | New tickets per agent this week |
| Issue List | Data: Open high-priority tickets - Smart Labels: Overdue, Escalated | Tickets needing immediate attention |
Configuration Tips
- Order funnel segments to match your support workflow (e.g., New → Triaged → In Progress → Pending Customer → Resolved)
- Add a Smart Label "Overdue" using
duedate < now() AND resolution is EMPTYwith a red badge - Add Quick Filters: "My Tickets" (
assignee = currentUser()), "Unassigned" (assignee is EMPTY)
7. Delivery Metrics Dashboard
Who: Engineering Managers, Delivery Leads, Agile Coaches When: Quarterly reviews, process-improvement retrospectives, before committing to a date
What It Shows
Not how much work is open, but how fast it actually moves - and how predictable that speed is. Every gadget here reads the issue changelog rather than current state.
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Control Chart | Source: Board - Metric: Cycle Time - Percentile lines at 50 and 85 | Cycle time per completed item, and the number you can safely commit to |
| Histogram Chart | Same cycle definition - 10 equal intervals, or SLA thresholds | The shape of delivery and the size of the slow tail |
| Cycle Time Trend | Interval: Board Sprints - Linear trendline | Whether delivery is getting faster or slower |
| WIP Run Chart | WIP rule: status category "In Progress" - Max limit set | Whether the team is taking on too much at once |
| WIP Aging Charts | Threshold at your SLA - Percentile line at 85 | Which open items are old right now |
Configuration Tips
- Use the same cycle definition in Control Chart, Histogram, and Cycle Time Trend. If they differ, the three gadgets will disagree and nobody will trust any of them
- Write that definition into each gadget's Description tab so viewers know what is being measured
- Read the 85th percentile off the Control Chart and use it as your commitment number - not the average
- If the WIP Run Chart trends up, fix WIP first. Cycle time is the symptom, WIP is usually the cause
8. Standup Wallboard
Who: Scrum Masters, Team Leads, co-located and distributed teams When: Daily standup, permanently displayed on a screen in the team area
What It Shows
A board that lives on the dashboard next to your charts, readable from across the room, refreshing on its own.
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Team Wallboard | Source: Board - Active sprint - a board quick filter (optional) - Auto-refresh on, compact cards on, options menu off | The standup board itself - walk the columns right to left |
| Sprint Burndown & Burnup | Latest sprint (auto) - Remaining + Ideal Burndown | Are we on pace for this sprint? |
| WIP Aging Charts | Threshold at your SLA | Any dot past the line gets a conversation |
| Regional Clock | One per office | For distributed teams - is it a reasonable time to ping them? |
| Countdown | Target: sprint end or release date | Keeps the deadline visible without anyone asking |
Configuration Tips
- Turn the options menu off on a wall display so nobody can reconfigure it by accident
- If your board has a quick filter for recent changes, apply it from Quick filters at standup - it shows what actually moved since yesterday
- Swimlane the wallboard by assignee when you want to spot who is overloaded, by epic when you want to spot what has stalled
9. Epic & Dependency Review
Who: Product Owners, Program Managers, Delivery Managers When: Epic reviews, release planning, unblocking cross-team work
What It Shows
How a large piece of work actually decomposes, and what is blocking it - without opening a separate planning tool.
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Work Breakdown Structure | Hierarchy View - Board source - Table mode with Status and Story Points columns | Each Epic's Stories and Sub-tasks with their status and estimate, readable down a column |
| Work Breakdown Structure | Linked Work Items View - second gadget | What blocks what, grouped by link type |
| Issue List | Source: the release JQL - Smart Labels: Blocked, Overdue | The detail behind the tree |
| Cumulative Flow Diagram | Date Range: release dates | Flow health across the release window |
Configuration Tips
- Use a Board source for the hierarchy view - it takes the board's full backlog, so Epics stay nested with their children instead of being split across sprints
- Two WBS gadgets side by side is the point: one answers "how far along", the other answers "what is in the way"
- Set the CFD to Project release dates so the chart scopes itself to the release window automatically
10. Forecasting & Capacity Planning
Who: Product Owners, Delivery Managers, PMO When: Roadmap planning, answering "when will this ship?", sprint capacity checks
What It Shows
What the team has actually delivered per interval, and what that implies for everything still in the backlog.
Recommended Gadget Setup
| Gadget | Configuration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Kanban Velocity | Source: Board - Backlog forecast on - Averaging window: 3-6 intervals | Throughput per interval, plus an ETA for every backlog item |
| Cycle Time Trend | Interval matching your cadence | Is the delivery rate itself changing? |
| Issue Filter Formula | Gauges: sprint completion %, on-time delivery % | The commitments, as single numbers |
| Sprint Burndown & Burnup | Latest sprint (auto) | Current sprint against the plan |
| Release Burndown & Burnup | Dates of a project release - Forecast Remaining on | The release ETA against its planned end date |
Configuration Tips
- Rank the backlog first. Kanban Velocity forecasts in board-rank order - if the ranking is not meaningful, the dates are not either
- Widen the averaging window if the ETA jumps week to week. A three-interval average reacts fast but swings
- For the Issue Filter Formula gauges, guard every division:
IF(b > 0, a / b * 100, 0)so an empty sprint does not display NaN