Data Visualization with Microsoft Power BI

Chapter 10. Putting It All Together: Dashboard Design Tips

So, we are approaching the end of the first part of the book. And in your toolkit, you now have classic visuals:

• For displaying rankings: bar and column charts

• For depicting structure: pie and donut charts, as well as treemaps

• For showcasing dynamics (timelines): a family of line charts

• For an overview: tables and matrices

• For key metrics: KPI cards

• For data filtering: slicers, as well as cross-filtering options

With these tools, you’ll be able to address 80% of tasks in the corporate reporting sphere. Through regular practice, the step-by-step guide for each visual will become second nature, allowing you to create neat and proficient charts within a matter of minutes.

However, a chart by itself is not the final product; our task is to learn how to create interactive dashboards. This is a broad topic that encompasses data storytelling and information design, and it has dedicated books. In one chapter, we’ve aimed to distill key points. Even if you are an experienced analyst eager to move on to Part II’s discussion of advanced visuals, we recommend reading this chapter to ensure that you are doing everything correctly.

In this chapter, we’ll cover the basics of dashboard design. We won’t be talking about creatively choosing colors and fonts, but rather about the composition of the dashboard as a whole—how to assemble individual visual elements into a unified information product. There won’t be any exclusive content here—our ...