The problem with dashboards is that they do nothing. Imagine slapping a dashboard screen on the top of the GMail UI: You would only interact with the dashboard to get someplace else. Ugh! A literally useless place. You always want to be someplace else.
The problem with "side navigation" is that it is only a visual change. It tantalizes you with the idea that you are someplace else, sort of, with a mostly-useless, partly obscured view on the right. Otherwise it is the same as a dashboard.
The problem with "side navigation" is that it is only a visual change. It tantalizes you with the idea that you are someplace else, sort of, with a mostly-useless, partly obscured view on the right. Otherwise it is the same as a dashboard.