BUILDING REPORTS

THE POWER BI REPORT VIEW

View Options (Themes, Layouts, Gridlines, Filter/Bookmarks/Selection Panes, etc) Visualization Options (Charts, Slicers, Maps, Matrices, etc)

Field List (Tables, Columns, Measures)

Fields/Format/Analytics Pane
(Visual-specific configuration &
formatting tools)

Drill through Filters (Options for

page-level drill through filters)

Report Pages (Similar to Excel tabs; each is a blank reporting canvas) Filters Pane (Visual-Level, Page-Level, and Report-Level Filters)
 INSERTING OBJECTS & BASIC
CHARTS

Click on a visualization type or use the “New Visual”

option in the Home tab to insert a blank chart template
(usually a column chart by default)
Note: You can also add new visuals, along with Pages, Buttons,
Images, and more from the Insert tab

Drag fields or measures directly into the report

canvas to automatically generate a new visual

*In the newest versions of Power BI, these tools can be found in both the Home and Insert menus
 FORMATTING OPTIONS
Example: Line & Column Chart Example: Matrix Example: Donut Chart
 FILTERING OPTIONS

There are four (x4) primary filter types in Power BI reports:

1. Visual Level: Applies only to the specific visual in which it is defined
2. Page Level: Applies to all visuals on the specific page in which it is defined
3. Report Level: Applies to all visuals across all pages of the report
4. Drill through: Applies to specific pages, and updates based on the item clicked

Filter settings include Basic, Advanced, and Top N options

Basic Options
Top N Options Advanced (Values)

Advanced (Text)

*In the newest versions of Power BI, these tools can be found in both the Home and Insert menus
 EDITING REPORT INTERACTIONS

Report interactions allow you to determine how filters applied to one visual impact the others
• For example, by selecting the Timeline visual and enabling “Edit interactions” from the Format tab, we can manually
determine which visuals should “react” when the date range changes
• In this case the Product matrix, Country slicer and Map will filter in response to timeline changes ( ),
but the MTD,
QTD, and YTD Profit cards will not ( )
EDITING REPORT INTERACTIONS
(CONT.)

For certain types of visuals, a third option

allows you to “highlight” sub-segments of
the data, rather than simply filtering vs.
not filtering
• When the interaction mode is set to
“filter”, selecting the “Bikes” category in
the treemap produces a filtered list of
subcategories in the chart below

• When the interaction mode is set to

“highlight”, selecting the “Bikes” category
in the treemap highlights the relevant
subsegment of data in the chart below
 DRILLTHROUGH FILTERS

Drill through filters allow users to jump to different report pages (like bookmarks), while simultaneously filtering
based on the specific item selected
• Here we’ve built a report page (“Product Detail”) featuring product-level performance, and added a Drillthrough filter for
ProductName; users can now right-click any report visual containing product names, and jump straight to a pre-filtered
version of this page (“Sport-100 Helmet, Blue” shown in the example above)
 ADDING & LINKING
BOOKMARKS

In this example, we notice that Q4 sales were

particularly strong in the Portland market, so
we add a new bookmark (View > Bookmarks
Pane > Add) and name it “Q4 Portland Sales”

On a new page, we present our key insights,

insert buttons, and link them to bookmarks
using the object “Action” properties
Now we’re able to create a narrative from
the data, and really bring our insights to life!
 MANAGING & VIEWING AS
ROLES

Roles allow you to define filtered views that can be tailored

to specific audiences
• In this example we’ve created views for each territory
manager (Europe, North America, and Pacific) based on
simple DAX filter statements
IMPORTING CUSTOM VISUALS

Click the ellipsis in the visuals pane to import custom visuals

from files or from the Power BI Marketplace, directly into the
report (no installation or restart necessary)

In this case we’ve added a Bullet Chart from the marletplace

 DESKTOP VS. PHONE
LAYOUT

Phone Layout view allows you to design on a canvas size optimized for mobile viewing (vs. desktop)
• NOTE: You can’t actually build content within the Phone Layout view; recommend building in Desktop Layout, and assembling select
visuals for mobile if you plan to share content via the Power BI app
 DATA VISUALIZATION BEST
PRACTICES

Strive for clarity & simplicity, above all else

• Aim to maximize impact and minimize noise; it’s all about balancing design and function

Don’t just build charts and graphs; create a narrative

• Without context, data is meaningless; use filters, bookmarks, and effective visualizations
to translate raw data into powerful insights and implications

Always ask yourself the three key questions:

1. What type of data are you visualizing? (Integer, categorical, time-series, geo-spatial, etc)
2. What are you trying to communicate? (Relationships, compositions, trending, etc)
3. Who is the end user consuming this information? (Analyst, CEO, client, intern, etc)
 Reference sources:

- Microsoft PowerBI website

- PowerBI resources on Coursera, Udemy
 Disclaimer
The information in this document is highly confidential and may be legally privileged. It
is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this presentation by anyone else is
unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution
or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be
unlawful. The sample screens shown in this presentation are CONVZ FZE’s IP and
cannot be used or distributed without their prior consent. This presentation is
considered approved for submission to the Client by the Above-Authorized signatory.