Creating Power BI Reports and Dashboards

Power BI Reports and Dashboards – Designing Interactive Reports

Interactive report allows users to explore data using filters, slicers, and visual elements.

Power BI offers a variety of visuals that enhances the clarity and impact of the report. Select the right chart for your project based on the data and visualization.

Bar and Column Charts – For comparisons and trends
Pie and Donut Charts – For proportions and distribution
Tables and Matrices – For detailed tabular data
Maps – For geographic data visualization
Cards – For displaying key metrics

Slicers and Filters

Slicers are used to filter data directly on the report canvas. Filters can be applied at different levels: visual, page and report-wide. Drill-through pages are suitable for deeper data analysis when clicking on a specific data point.

Adding Interactivity with Bookmarks and Drill-through

Bookmarks are added by users to save specific views of a report and switch between them easily. Drill-through functionality allows us to click on a summary visual and navigate to a detailed page.

To optimize the performance of reports, Use aggregations to reduce the data load and avoid excessive visuals on a single page to maintain performance. Use data reduction techniques like filters and summarization to improve report responsiveness.

Understanding Report Pages and Layouts

Power BI report consists of multiple pages with specific analytical serving purposes.

Best Practices for Layout Design

Consistent formatting is essential for proper layout design using a uniform color scheme, font style, and layout structure. Arrange the visuals in a logical sequence for logical flow. Adjust the layout settings to make the report responsive on mobile devices.

Report Page Navigation

To move between different reports, use Page Navigation Buttons and Implement drill-down, drill-through actions to create a hierarchical exploration of data.

Publishing Reports to Power BI Service

After designing reports, Publish them to Power BI Service to share insights with others.

Steps to Publish a Report

Save the report and ensure your Power BI Desktop report (.pbix) is complete.
Click on ‘Publish’ in Power BI Desktop and select the Publish option.
Select a Workspace where you want to store the report.
Verify in Power BI Service to manage and share the report after publishing.

Row-Level Security (RLS)

To restrict data access, apply RLS roles based on user roles. Define DAX filters to enforce security policies within reports.

Building and Sharing Dashboards

Dashboard is a collection of visuals that provide a summarized view of important metrics from one or multiple reports.

Steps To Create a Dashboard

Go to Power BI Service and Select “Create a Dashboard”.
Pin visuals from different reports to the dashboard.
Arrange and format visuals for a professional look.

Dashboard vs. Report: Key Differences

Feature	Reports	Dashboards
Pages	Multiple pages	Single page
Data Source	One dataset per report	Multiple datasets
Interactivity	Fully interactive	Limited interaction
Creation Tool	Power BI Desktop	Power BI Service

Sharing a Dashboard

Share directly by giving access to team members using the “Share” option in Power BI Service. To embed in teams or sharePoint, integrate dashboards into collaboration platforms. Schedule data refresh by ensuring the dashboard updates automatically with the latest data.

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Creating Power BI Reports and Dashboards