Why I built 906 Dashboard.

There is no shortage of things to love about Michigan's Upper Peninsula. There is also no shortage of browser tabs you can open trying to figure out what is happening here today.

Before a trip, you might want to check the weather, road conditions, the Mackinac Bridge, a trail, a webcam, and whether the northern lights have a chance of showing up. Each answer is useful. Finding all of them can feel like a small expedition of its own.

That was the idea behind 906 Dashboard: bring useful U.P. information together in one place so people can spend less time hunting through websites and more time deciding where to go.

Start with the question, not the technology

I've spent a lot of my career working with technology. One lesson that has stuck with me is that people don't wake up excited to use a dashboard. They want to know whether the roads are clear, what the weather is doing, or whether the trip they're imagining is realistic today.

That is the question I wanted the site to help answer: What should I know before I head out?

The dashboard brings together a variety of information and links. Depending on what you're planning, you can explore:

• Weather, road and bridge conditions for the trip.
• Cameras, trails, waterfalls, skiing, hunting and seasonal resources.
• A northern lights page with an aurora outlook, cloud information and viewing ideas.
• Local points of interest, including Lake Superior and the ore docks.

The goal is to make a useful starting point, not to replace the agencies and local sources behind the information. Conditions can change, so it is always smart to check the original source before making a decision that depends on them.

A dashboard can have a little personality

I also wanted the site to feel like the place it represents. That is where the weather moose comes in. It is a small, playful touch, but it makes checking the weather a little more fun.

There is a companion, too: Up North Dashboard brings a similar idea to northern Lower Michigan, with its own porch goose. Together, they make it easier to see what is happening on either side of the bridge.

What I keep learning

Building a site like this is a reminder that useful technology starts with useful questions. Is the information easy to find? Does it still make sense if someone has never visited the area? Can a person look at the page quickly and know what to do next?

Those questions are part of the fun for me. The dashboard can keep changing as I learn which information people find helpful and what could be clearer.

If you are planning a visit, live here, or just want to see what is happening up north, take a look at 906 Dashboard. I hope it saves you a few tabs—and maybe helps you find something worth getting out of the house for.

Disclosure: I built 906 Dashboard and Up North Dashboard. Both are among the projects I work on through I am Your Geek LLC.