Data Visualization with Microsoft Power BI

Part II. Trusted Advanced Visuals

As you’ll recall, we worked with simple bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, and tables in Part I. In Part II, we’ll introduce you to more sophisticated visuals, which we use extensively in our corporate reporting. In Part III, we’ll discuss even more complicated visuals that, while having a wow factor, also have the potential to be confusing for or misunderstood by the audience.

Let’s start by looking at simpler visuals and gradually move to more complex ones, which will require meticulous data preparation:

• Funnel charts

• Maps

• Tornado charts

• Waterfall charts

• Bullet charts

• Gantt charts

• Sankey charts

• Advanced KPI cards

Some of these charts are relatively easy to build, which is why beginners often find them appealing. However, it is crucial to understand the specific purposes of each chart and use them accordingly. For example, beginners commonly make the mistake of using a funnel chart to display data rankings, which is incorrect as it distorts the true meaning of the data.

Other visuals require the user to prepare data in a specialized format designed exactly for that visualization. It requires time and effort to ensure the data table is structured appropriately for constructing particular charts in Power BI. For instance, while a waterfall chart in Power BI may visually resemble its Excel counterpart, the underlying data must undergo a distinct transformation process.

There are three ways in Power BI to add an advanced chart to a report: