_{DURING THE SHIP DESIGN PROCESS, THE EXPLORATION PHASE IS CHARACTERIZED BY THE ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES APPROACH. THE AIM IS TO SUPPORT THE TRANSITION FROM THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF STAKEHOLDER REQUIREMENTS TO DESIGN REQUIREMENTS, CONCEPTUAL DESIGN, COST AND PERFORMANCE. THE DASHBOARD IS A COLLECTION OF INTERNALLY GENERATED GRAPHS, CHARTS OR OTHER INDICATORS THAT ALLOW AN AT-A-GLANCE VISUALIZATION AND MONITORING OF KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS. THE DASHBOARD ALLOWS THE VISUALIZATION OF THE DESIGN OF A SHIP AND THE ESTIMATION OF ITS MISSION EFFECTIVENESS. ORIZZONTE SISTEMI NAVALI, WITH A TECHNICAL NAVAL ADVICE PROVIDED BY CETENA, IS DEVELOPING A NEW METHODOLOGY TO SUPPORT THE SHIP ACQUISITION PHASE. THE DASHBOARD REPRESENTS A MODERN APPROACH FOR NAVAL SHIP DESIGN, LINKING SHIP DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS WITH OPERATIONAL ASPECTS. THE INTERFACE DESIRES TO SUPPORT DECISION-MAKERS, NAVAL ARCHITECTS AND SYSTEM OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERS BY PROVIDING A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI) TO MANAGE THE SHIP DESIGN DETAILS, COSTS AND OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS FOR DIFFERENT NAVAL TASKS AND FOR EACH POSSIBLE HYPOTHESIS/SOLUTION. GROUNDING ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE ECOLOGICAL INTERFACE DESIGN, DASHBOARD SHOWS INFORMATION AT DIFFERENT LEVELS, PROVIDING (1) A COMPREHENSIVE PERSPECTIVE ON THE WHOLE SHIP DESIGN PROCESS, (2) A REPRESENTATION OF THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN MAIN SHIP CHARACTERISTICS AND NAVAL TASK EFFECTIVENESS, SHOWING THEIR MUTUAL CHANGES AND (3) ALLOWING A DETAILED ANALYSIS OF EVERY INDIVIDUAL DESIGN AREA.}