4B. Design Power BI reports

Question 1

“Where” can you design Power BI reports?

Answer 1

You can design Microsoft Power BI reports in Power BI Desktop or Power BI service (web portal). Power BI mobile apps don’t support report design; they support only the report consumer experience.

Power BI Desktop is only supported on Windows operating systems.

Question 2

What are the structure and objects of a report?

Answer 2

Structurally, a Power BI report connects to a single semantic model (semantic model), and it has at least one report page. However, it’s common that reports have multiple pages.

On each page, report objects are laid out. Report objects include:
- Visuals - Visualizations of semantic model data.
- Elements - Provide visual interest but don’t use semantic model data. Elements include text boxes, buttons, shapes, and images.

Question 3

What can you do instead of duplicating a report page?

Answer 3

Duplicating pages can help expedite report development, especially when you’re copying a completed and polished report page. However, take care that you don’t over complicate the report design if you can accomplish a duplicated page by filtering a single page. For example, instead of creating one page for each customer, you could use a slicer on a single page to filter by customer.

Question 4

At a high level, how should you structure a report?

Answer 4

Strive for a report design that expresses the data in a logical flow on the page and between pages. A well-designed report often provides a high-level summary on the first page with supporting detail on the following pages.

Question 5

When might it be better to a several reports with one page each, instead of one report with many pages?

Answer 5

When you design those pages for a different audience or when you need to secure, share, or distribute them differently. The reason is because reports are a security and publication unit, and report pages belong to reports and can’t be secured or published independently of the report.

Question 6

Why might you hide pages in a report?

Answer 6

You can hide pages when they’re not yet ready for use; they’re a work in progress. However, you might commonly hide them because you want to control how they’re accessed:
- You can provide report page navigation with buttons or by drilling through from a visual.
- It’s also possible to design a page as a tooltip, which is revealed when a report consumer hovers over a visual.

Question 7

What are commonly applied page-level format settings?

Answer 7

• Page information
• Page size
• Page background

Question 8

What matters most about report design?

Answer 8

That the report design effectively communicates the data to meet requirements.

Question 9

How should you think about choosing what goes on the same page, and what goes on different pages?

Answer 9

You can begin to design a report layout by determining the number, sequence, and purpose of the pages. Make sure that you avoid combining subjects or opposing objectives on the same page. Then, design each page layout with specific report objects that are relevant to the requirements.

Question 10

What are five helpful design principles to consider when designing a report?

Answer 10

• Placement
• Balance
• Contrast
• Proximity
• Repetition

Question 11

What should you remember about placement when designing reports?

Answer 11

• Generally, you should place the most important information in the upper-left corner of the page and arrange the report elements from left to right and top to bottom. (For readers from some cultures, this will be different)
• Align objects
• Position related objects in logical groups
• Consider the rule of thirds

Question 12

What should you remember about balance when designing reports?

Answer 12

Balance can be
- Symmetrical
- Asymmetrical. A good rule for achieving asymmetrical balance is using the golden ratio

Question 13

What should you remember about proximity when designing reports?

Answer 13

• When a report page consists of multiple groups of related objects, you should use space to visually separate them.
• Related visuals are placed near one another. They are also purposefully and consistently aligned forming a clear section.

Question 14

What should you remember about contrast when designing reports?

Answer 14

• Contrast can be used to combine two opposing objects.
• The use of contrasting colors, fonts, font properties, or lines can emphasize important objects of the report design. Use this principle to direct report consumers to where they should look or which data visual they should interact with first.

Question 15

What should you remember about repetition when designing reports?

Answer 15

• Repetition in a report design creates association and consistency.
• Good use of repetition can help strengthen a report layout by tying related report objects together.

Question 16

What are some additional principles you can use to make a report more visually appealing?

Answer 16

• Margins
• Object spacing
• Page size
• Visual size
• Alignment
• Colour
• Consistency

Question 17

What should you remember about margins when designing reports?

Answer 17

• Having a consistently spaced border area frames the report objects.
• Because there isn’t a report page property to set margins, it’s up to you to lay out objects in way that results in a consistent border area.
• Margin sizes should be equal on the left and right, with possible variation on the top and bottom.
• Space across the top or bottom can show branding, titles, slicers, or other information that needs to be separated from the visuals.

Question 18

What should you remember about object spacing when designing reports?

Answer 18

• Ensure that you provide sufficient space surrounding, or within, report objects.
• Consider using different space depth to visually separate sections of related objects.
• However, keep in mind that too much space can result in an unbalanced report layout and could draw the report consumer’s attention away from what matters.
• Moderation is key: Always strive to produce an evenly spaced and balanced report.

Question 19

What should you remember about page size when designing reports?

Answer 19

• You can set the page size to predefined or custom dimensions.
• You can set custom dimensions that are larger than the available screen size so that the report consumer will need to interact with scrollbars to view the entire page.
• A large page size that is filled with visuals might take time to render, and visuals might not render in a top-to-bottom order.

Question 20

What should you remember about visual size when designing reports?

Answer 20

• Generally, the more important the visual, the larger its size.
• When similar visuals are on the page, such as a series of card visuals, they should be equally sized.
• Many visuals are responsive to size, so the visual will look appealing in either a small or large size. Consider that a line chart visual might appear like a sparkline when it’s sized as small. In this case, only a few axis and data labels might appear. When the line chart visual is sized larger, more detail will be revealed, including many more axis and data labels.
• While report consumers can use focus mode to enlarge a single visual, the visual should still clearly communicate its data when viewed at actual size on the report page. Focus mode can help consumers better interpret the data or more easily interact with the visual, such as expanding into levels of a matrix or decomposition tree visual.

Question 21

What should you remember about alignment when designing reports?

Answer 21

• When multiple visuals are on the report page, ensure that they’re properly aligned, meaning that the edges of visuals should be in alignment and the spacings between visuals are consistent.
• Alignment also relates to format options. For example, the alignment of titles and legends within visuals should be consistent.
• Define implied sections by aligning groups of visuals in close proximity.
• You can define explicit sections by using colored shapes and overlaying aligned visuals on those shapes.
• Use the alignment commands on the Format tab, which will help you quickly and accurately align visuals.

Question 22

What should you remember about colour when designing reports?

Answer 22

• Use color sparingly and meaningfully because overusing it can be distracting.
• Stick to a few softer colors as a base, possibly aligned with corporate colors.
• Reserve the use of bolder colors to highlight exceptions.
• Ensure that colors are sufficiently contrasting. Color contrast is especially important to create accessible reports for report consumers who have low vision.

Question 23

What should you remember about consistency when designing reports?

Answer 23

• Strive for consistency when you are laying out and configuring report objects.
• Consistency should apply to everything in your report design, including spacing, margins, size, alignment, and especially to object format options.

Question 24

What is the quickest way to ensure consistency in report looks?

Answer 24

The quickest way to enforce consistency is to use a report theme. A report theme applies format settings to your entire report, ensuring consistent application of colors, fonts, pages, and visual format options, including the Filters pane styles.

Be aware that the theme will be overridden when you explicitly configure a format option. For example, you can explicitly set a color by entering a HEX value instead of selecting a color from the palette. Try to limit overriding the report theme to an exception basis because if you switch themes, overridden properties won’t update.

Question 25

Beyond visuals, report pages also contain Elements. Which four types of elements are there?

Answer 25

• Text box - Add rich text, such as the title, to the report page. You can selectively apply font type and font size and then set the color, styling (bold, italics, or underline), and paragraph alignment (right, center, or left). You can insert hyperlinks, too.
• Buttons - Add buttons so that report consumers can interact with the report as they would an app. Buttons can perform different actions, such as return to the previous page, navigate to a specific page, drill through to a page, select a bookmark, open Q&A, or open a web URL in the default web browser.
• Shapes - Add a shape to the report as decoration or to behave like a button to perform an action. Almost any conceivable shape is possible, from basic shapes to arrows and even hearts. Shapes can include text and can be formatted and styled in many different ways.
• Image - Upload an image, such as your company logo, to the report page. Supported image types include BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, and PNG. Similar to the Shapes element, images can behave like buttons to perform an action.

Question 26

Text-boxes have a special feature that other elements don’t have–what?

Answer 26

The text box deserves a special mention because it’s capable of embedding dynamic values that are sourced from the report semantic model into paragraphs of text. When the page is filtered, dynamic values are filtered. Technically, the text box isn’t a visual. However, in this instance, it behaves like one. It’s also available as the smart narrative visual, which automatically summarizes data by using text descriptions and insights.

Question 27

What is the primary goal of selecting report visuals?

Answer 27

The primary goal of data visualization is to communicate information clearly and effectively to report consumers. That’s why selecting the most effective visual type to meet requirements is critical. Selecting the wrong visual type could make it difficult for report consumers to understand the data, or worse, it could result in the misrepresentation of the data.

Question 28

How should you visualize categories?

Answer 28

• Often, bar or column charts are good choices when you need to show data across multiple categories.
• If many category values are available, you should avoid selecting a visual where color is used to split the data, such as a stacked bar chart with a category legend. Instead, use the category dimension on the axis of a bar chart.
• Additionally, you should avoid a line chart with a categorical X-axis because the line implies a relationship between elements that might not exist.
• Mostly, you should sort categorical charts by value rather than in alphabetical category order. Make sure that you determine the sort order (ascending or descending) by what you want to first draw peoples’ attention to so that it provides the report consumer with an intuitive visual that is organized to produce a natural flow.

Question 29

How should you visualize time series?

Answer 29

• Always use a line or column chart to show values over time. The X-axis should present time, sorted from earliest to latest periods (left to right).
• You can bring the line chart to the next level by adding an analytics option. In this case, it applies a forecast to extend historical sales with projected sales.
• If missing values are a possibility, a column chart might be a better visual choice because it will help to avoid the interpretation of a non-existent trend. If no sales are recorded for some periods, the line chart visual will fill such gaps with a straight line that connects the values of the previous and next periods.

Other Power BI core visuals that you can use for time series data include:
- Stacked column chart
- Area chart
- Line and stacked column chart
- Ribbon chart, which has the added benefit of showing rank changes over time

Question 30

How should you visualize proportional data?

Answer 30

• Column and bar chart visuals work well for visualizing proportions across multiple dimensions.

Power BI core visuals that you can use for proportional visualization include:
- 100% Stacked Bar chart
- 100% Stacked Column chart
- Funnel chart
- Treemap
- Pie chart
- Doughnut chart

Question 31

What are numerical visuals good for?

Answer 31

• Often presented by card visuals, numeric values show high-level callouts that demand immediate attention. They can be powerful in dashboard and analytical reports because they communicate important data quickly.
• A card visual shows a single value that is quick and simple to read.
• You can also use a multi-row card to display multiple values in a single visual.

Question 32

What are the differences between table and matrices?

Answer 32

• Tables have a fixed number of columns, and each column can express grouped or summarized data.
• Matrices can have groups on columns and rows.
• Additionally, matrices provide one of the best experiences for hierarchical navigation. They allow users to drill down, on the columns or rows, to discover detailed data points of interest.

Question 33

What are tables and matrices visuals good for?

Answer 33

Tables and matrices can effectively convey a lot of detailed information.

Question 34

What should you remember to take advantage of when using tables or matrices visuals?

Answer 34

The table and matrix Format options provide a high degree of control to format and style grid values.

For example, you can display data in cells as data bars, or use icons together with visual formatting to quickly indicate whether a data point is concerning or not.

Question 35

What are performance visuals, what are they used for, and which such options exist in Power BI?

Answer 35

Communicating performance involves describing a value and its comparison to a target. Any difference between the value and target is its variance, which can be favorable or unfavorable. Color or icons can convey status. For example, when the variance is unfavorable, you can display a red color or an exclamation mark (!) icon.

Other Power BI core visuals that you can use to show performance include:
- Gauge
- KPI
- Table, with conditional formatting
- Matrix, with conditional formatting

Question 36

How can you visualize geospatial data?

Answer 36

• When a semantic model has geospatial information, it can be conveyed by using map visuals.
• Geospatial data doesn’t always need to be shown in maps. If location isn’t highly relevant to the requirements, consider using a categorical visual instead.

Question 37

What should you remember when choosing between the Map visual and the Filled Map visual?

Answer 37

In the following example, sales by city are displayed by using a Map visual and a Filled map visual. In this instance, the granularity of the data is at the city level and the perspective is the entire United States. Because a high dispersion is between plot points, the Map visual (which shows a bubble for each city) produces a helpful result. The Filled map visual of the United States can’t sufficiently convey city sales.

If you raise the granularity to state level, the Filled map visual will produce a better result than the Map visual. Then, report consumers can determine relative sales by interpreting the color graduations.

Question 38

Since you can often choose between many visuals to visualize data, how can you choose between them?

Answer 38

To narrow down the selection, you can choose the visual that best fits the available space on the report page. Use a visual that is aesthetically pleasing while maximizing the use of the available page space.

Question 39

What should be your aim when adding a title to a visual?

Answer 39

The aim of the title is to clearly describe what data is being presented in the visual. You can format the title by changing the text, text size, font, color, background, and alignment.

Question 40

What should you think about when adding images as background to visuals?

Answer 40

If you plan to use an image as a background, try to select an image that won’t have lines or shapes that would make it difficult for the user to read the data.

Question 41

What are borders good for?

Answer 41

You can set a border around the visual to isolate the visual from other elements on the canvas, which helps make it easier for the user to read and understand the data.

Question 42

What are tooltips and what can you use them for?

Answer 42

Using tooltips is a clever way of providing more contextual information and detail to data points on a visual

Question 43

What are the default tooltips?

Answer 43

When you add a visual, the default tooltip displays the data point’s value and category.

Question 44

How can you add more data to a tooltip, and how might it impact performance?

Answer 44

To expand on the data points that are displayed in the default tooltip, you can drag a field from the Fields panel into the Tooltips bucket. However, you should not add many more fields to the tooltips because adding too many fields can introduce performance issues and slow down your visuals.

Question 45

How can you add a graphical tooltip?

Answer 45

• Open a new page and then open the Format pane. Expand the Page Size section and then select Tooltip from the Type list.
• In the Page information section, turn the Tooltip slider to On so that Power BI registers this page as a tooltip page
• Tooltips have limited canvas space, so to ensure that your visuals appear in the tooltip, on the View tab, set the Page view option to Actual size.
• Next, add one or more visuals to the tooltip page, in the same way that you would on any other report page.
• Now, you need to specify the fields for which you want the tooltip to display. Select the tooltip page and then select the Values tab in the Visualizations pane. Drag the fields from the Fields pane into the Tooltip bucket.
• Return to the report page and apply the tooltip to one or more visuals on that page. Select a visual and then, in the Format pane, scroll down to the Tooltip section. Turn the tooltip option On and then select your tooltip page from the Page list.

Question 46

What are KPIs and what are they good for?

Answer 46

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are excellent in helping you track progress toward a specific goal over time.

Question 47

What three pieces of information do you need to use KPIs?

Answer 47

• A unit of measurement that you want to track, for instance total sales, number of employee hires, number of loans serviced, or number of students enrolled.
• A goal for the measurement so that you can compare your progress with that goal.
• A time series, for instance daily, monthly, or yearly.

In the Power BI KPI visual, you need to enter fields into three wells denoting the bullet points above.