GoldSim Dashboard Tips ‘n’ Tricks

Illustrative examples from models for radioactive waste management
John Tauxe, PhD, PE • Tauxian Solutions, LLC
with Jason Lillywhite • GoldSim Technology Group

Designing effective graphical user interfaces (GUIs) makes complex models accessible and interactive. This blog post, based on a poster presentation submitted by John Tauxe of Tauxian Solutions, LLC at the 2024 GoldSim User's Conference, shares practical tips and "tricks" for building powerful GoldSim Dashboards. These strategies are particularly well-suited for applications such as radioactive waste management models, where clear visualization and user flexibility are required. We'll explore various techniques for organizing interactive elements, visualizing model changes, and even implementing workarounds for advanced functionalities to enhance the user experience.

Navigation Tabs in the Dashboard

Posted by: Jason Lillywhite

If you want to add navigation tabs to a dashboard, you will need to create multiple dashboards with graphical components that align in order to give the impression that you are switching tabs instead of switching entire dashboard pages. Luckily, with a few simple steps, this is quite easy to do. Follow these basic steps to quickly create your navigation tabs for your dashboard.

We will be using Microsoft Power Point to draw the Navigation graphics for the Dashboard.

Graphical User Interface Examples in GoldSim

Posted by Jason Lillywhite

I've updated many of our dashboard examples to include the new embedded chart feature available in GoldSim 12.1. Many of these have been updated since my last blog post showing example dashboards. Below are screen captures showing some of these along with links to read more about them and even download the models so you can try them out yourself.

Examples of Dashboards

Posted by Jason Lillywhite

2018 Update: We have posted newer examples of dashboards using a newer version of GoldSim, here.

Do you want to add a dashboard to your GoldSim model but need some ideas on how to design it? Are you looking for ways to improve its functionality and ease of use? If so, maybe some of the examples shown below will give you some useful ideas. In this blog post, I have included screen captures of some models that highlight various approaches to building effective dashboards.

Playing Mastermind with GoldSim

Posted by Ryan Roper

This last weekend, I went into nerd mode and created a GoldSim version of the classic game Mastermind. If you're not familiar with Mastermind, here's the Wikipedia article about it: Mastermind (board game). According to the article, "Mastermind...is a code-breaking game for two players. The modern game with pegs was invented in 1970 by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert. It resembles an earlier pencil and paper game called Bulls and Cows that may date back a century or more." I play this game with my kids and it often leaves me musing about what kind of strategy or algorithm I might devise to more systematically make guesses to solve the code. This musing usually lasts about 5 or 10 minutes before I decide it's not worth my time and I go on with my life. However, recently I thought it would be a fun and interesting exercise to create a GoldSim version of Mastermind.

Simulating a One-Armed Bandit

Posted by Jason Lillywhite

If you ever run into GoldSim employees in Las Vegas, you will never see them sitting in front of a slot machine. Dealing with probabilities on a daily basis gives us a feel for our odds when dealing with uncertainty. But what if we built a model that only simulates the one-armed bandit? This is the question I asked myself the other day when Rick mentioned the dice-rolling model. What I thought would end up to be a mere exercise in probabilities ended up in a little game that is almost as addicting as solitaire!

Customizing Dashboards

Posted by Ryan Roper

GoldSim dashboards offer a way of putting an ‘interface’ on your GoldSim model that allows you or a colleague or client to change inputs or settings and to view model results. Creating good dashboards may have as much to do with making them nice-looking and easy to use as it has to do with mere functionality (i.e. providing access to appropriate inputs and results). The focus of this post is mainly about appearance and usability of dashboards. I’ll offer some ideas based on experiences I had while working on a project with a group at Sandia National Laboratories.