Chapter- 4

Data Visualization with intelligence

Introduction to Dashboards in Power BI

Power BI is a powerful business analytics tool by Microsoft that enables users to visualize and
share insights from their data. Dashboards in Power BI play a key role in providing a
comprehensive, interactive view of critical business metrics and data points. Here’s an
introduction to what dashboards are and how they work in Power BI:

What is a Power BI Dashboard?

A Power BI Dashboard is a single, interactive canvas that displays visualizations of key metrics
from multiple reports and datasets. It’s a collection of visuals (charts, graphs, maps, KPIs, etc.)
that allow users to monitor and analyze data in real-time.

Key Features of Power BI Dashboards:

1. Interactive Visuals:
o Dashboards provide a variety of visuals like bar charts, line graphs, pie charts,
maps, and KPIs that represent data insights clearly.
o Users can interact with the visuals, apply filters, and drill down into data for more
detailed analysis.
2. Real-Time Data:
o Power BI dashboards can be updated in real-time, providing fresh and live data as
changes occur, helping businesses make data-driven decisions instantly.
3. Data Consolidation:
o Dashboards in Power BI consolidate data from different reports and data sources,
providing a high-level view of different metrics on a single screen.
4. Customizable:
o Users can personalize dashboards based on their preferences, selecting the most
relevant visuals and data points to be displayed.
o It is also possible to arrange, resize, and adjust visuals to suit your needs.
5. Sharing and Collaboration:
o Dashboards can be shared with others in the organization, enabling collaborative
decision-making.
o They can be embedded in websites, shared via emails, or accessed by stakeholders
with proper permissions.

How to Create a Power BI Dashboard:

1. Connect to Data Sources:

o Begin by importing data from various sources such as Excel, SQL Server,
SharePoint, or even web-based data sources.
2. Build Reports:
 o Power BI dashboards are typically built from reports, which are detailed
visualizations of your data.
o You create reports first, which can include charts, tables, and other visuals that
depict your data.
3. Pin Visuals to Dashboard:
o Once you have created reports, you can "pin" individual visuals or entire report
pages to a dashboard.
o Pinned visuals are linked to the report, and when clicked, they allow you to drill
down into the underlying data.
4. Customize the Dashboard:
o Arrange your visuals, resize them, and apply any necessary filters to ensure the
most relevant insights are highlighted.
o Customize themes, colors, and other display settings for a cohesive look.
5. Publish and Share:
o Once your dashboard is ready, you can publish it to the Power BI Service for
sharing with others in your organization or exporting to other formats.

Advantages of Power BI Dashboards:

 Centralized Information: Dashboards bring data from multiple sources and reports into
a single view.
 Quick Decision-Making: By providing a high-level overview of critical metrics,
dashboards help users make decisions faster.
 Customizable Views: Dashboards can be customized to show different insights based on
user roles or needs.
 Mobile Access: Power BI dashboards can be accessed via mobile devices, ensuring that
users can monitor metrics on the go.

Power BI dashboards are essential tools for monitoring business performance, tracking KPIs, and
making data-driven decisions. With interactive and customizable visualizations, they empower
users to stay informed and agile in today’s data-driven world. By integrating real-time data and
enabling collaborative insights, Power BI dashboards help organizations achieve their goals more
effectively.

2. Dash board design principle

When designing a dashboard, it's crucial to focus on clarity, usability, and effective data
visualization. Here are some key principles to follow:

1. Clarity & Simplicity

 Minimalism: Avoid clutter by only including essential information. Too many elements
can overwhelm users.
 Clear Hierarchy: Use size, color, and positioning to create a clear flow of information
from the most critical to the least important data.
 Legible Typography: Ensure text is readable, with appropriate font sizes and spacing.
2. Consistency

 Design Language: Use consistent colors, fonts, and styles throughout the dashboard.
This helps users quickly understand the data and how to interact with it.
 Iconography: Use familiar icons and visual elements to maintain consistency and help
users easily navigate the dashboard.

3. Data Visualization

 Effective Graphs & Charts: Choose the right type of chart (bar, line, pie, etc.) to
represent the data clearly. For example, line graphs for trends over time, bar charts for
comparisons, and pie charts for distribution.
 Visual Comparisons: Make comparisons easy by using color coding or grouped data.
 Avoid Overloading: Don’t overwhelm users with too many graphs. Focus on key
metrics.

4. User-Centric Design

 Customizability: Allow users to tailor the dashboard to their needs (e.g., filtering data,
changing timeframes, etc.).
 Responsiveness: Ensure that the dashboard works well on all devices, from desktops to
mobile screens.
 Interactivity: Use interactive elements like drill-downs, hover effects, or clickable
elements to engage users and provide more detailed insights.

5. Real-Time & Relevant Data

 Accuracy: Ensure that data is up-to-date and relevant to the user’s goals. If data updates
in real-time, show the last refresh time.
 Alert System: Highlight critical metrics with indicators or notifications for important
changes (e.g., red for urgent issues).

6. Feedback & Guidance

 Tooltips & Labels: Provide clear labels, tooltips, and help options for complex data, so
users can easily understand what they’re viewing.
 Error Handling: If there are issues with the data (e.g., no data available), provide clear
messages or alternative views.

7. Performance

 Fast Loading Times: A dashboard should load quickly even with large datasets. Slow
performance can lead to a frustrating user experience.
 Efficient Data Loading: Use techniques like lazy loading or progressive loading for
large datasets to avoid performance bottlenecks.
By following these principles, you can create an effective, user-friendly dashboard that provides
clear, actionable insights.

3. Dashboard interactivity

Dashboard interactivity refers to the features and capabilities within a dashboard that allow
users to engage with the data in real-time, customize views, and explore insights based on their
needs. Interactivity in a dashboard enhances user experience and can lead to more informed
decision-making. Here are several common interactive elements and features in dashboards:

1. Filters:
o Users can filter data by specific criteria, such as time period, geographic location,
categories, or user segments, to focus on what is most relevant to them.
2. Drill-down:
o Allows users to click on a data point to view more detailed information. For
example, clicking on a region in a sales map could show sales details for
individual stores or products within that region.
3. Tooltips:
o Hovering over data points or chart elements shows additional information (e.g.,
exact values, trends, or comments), helping users gain more context without
cluttering the interface.
4. Dropdowns & Selection Menus:
o Users can select specific data sets, metrics, or time ranges from a dropdown list to
adjust the dashboard’s displayed information dynamically.
5. Data Drill-through:
o Users can access deeper layers of data by drilling through to another report or
dashboard that provides more granular details.
6. Interactive Charts and Graphs:
o Users can click, hover, or zoom in on charts like bar charts, line graphs, pie
charts, etc., to view data in different formats or perspectives.
7. Date Range Pickers:
o Allow users to customize the time period they want to view, such as selecting a
specific month, quarter, or year for trend analysis.
8. Search Functionality:
o Let users search for specific data points, categories, or keywords to quickly locate
relevant information.
9. Real-time Data Updates:
o Dashboards that automatically update to reflect real-time data changes or allow
users to refresh data manually to keep up-to-date.
10. Cross-filtering:
o Selecting data from one visualization (e.g., a chart or table) can update or filter
other visualizations in the dashboard, helping to reveal relationships between
different metrics.
11. Export Options:
o Users can export filtered or selected data into different formats such as CSV,
Excel, or PDF for further analysis or reporting.
 12. Annotations:
o Users or dashboard creators can annotate specific data points or trends to provide
context or highlight important insights.

By incorporating these interactive features, dashboards can become powerful tools for data
exploration, allowing users to engage deeply with data, derive actionable insights, and make
more informed decisions.

4. Drill down dash boards

A drill-down dashboard refers to an interactive data visualization tool that allows users to
navigate through different layers of data. The idea is that a user can click on or select an item in a
report or chart to get more detailed, granular data related to that item. Drill-down dashboards are
especially useful for providing high-level insights while allowing users to access detailed
information as needed.

Here’s how they work:

Key Features of Drill-Down Dashboards:

1. High-Level Overview: The dashboard initially presents high-level summaries, such as

total sales, revenue, or performance metrics.
2. Interactive Elements: Users can click on specific data points, such as bar charts, pie
slices, or other visual elements, to dig deeper into the data.
3. Hierarchical Data: Data is organized in a hierarchical structure. For example, clicking
on total sales might take the user to a page showing sales by region, then by state, and
then by store or individual sales transactions.
4. Progressive Data Layers: As the user drills down, the data becomes more specific,
providing deeper insights without overwhelming them with too much information
upfront.
5. Filters and Customization: Drill-down dashboards often allow for additional filters,
date ranges, and custom parameters to refine the data further.

Benefits of Drill-Down Dashboards:

 Efficient Exploration: Users can start with an overview and then explore specific areas
of interest without needing to navigate through multiple separate reports.
 Increased Data Accessibility: Users at different levels of the organization can get
insights suitable for their needs—executives might see high-level metrics, while analysts
can drill down to raw data.
 Better Decision Making: By allowing users to uncover underlying trends and issues,
drill-down dashboards help inform more accurate and data-driven decisions.

Use Cases for Drill-Down Dashboards:

  Sales and Revenue Tracking: A dashboard that shows total revenue by product line,
with the ability to drill down to individual product performance, and further drill down to
transactions.
 Web Analytics: A dashboard that displays website traffic by source, with drill-down
capabilities to see traffic by device, page, or even user behavior.
 Performance Dashboards: In HR or operations, you might see performance metrics for
teams, and drill down to individual employee performance or departmental KPIs.

Tools for Building Drill-Down Dashboards:

 Power BI: A popular tool with built-in drill-down capabilities, letting users click on
visuals to drill into related data.
 Tableau: Another tool widely used for creating dynamic, drillable dashboards.
 Looker: A platform for building interactive dashboards, with drill-down and filter
options for detailed data exploration.
 Google Data Studio: Allows you to create drill-down reports that help users get a closer
look at data through clicks.

Example Scenario:

Imagine you have a sales dashboard showing overall sales by region. Clicking on a region will
take you to a breakdown by individual store performance in that region. Clicking on a specific
store will provide detailed data, such as sales trends over time, individual product performance,
and customer demographics.

Would you like more information on how to create a drill-down dashboard using a specific tool
or platform?

6. Creating intelligence dashboards

Creating intelligence dashboards with Power BI involves several key steps, from data
integration to visualization design. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to build intelligent
dashboards using Power BI:

1. Define the Purpose of the Dashboard

 Business Objectives: What insights do you need to gain from the data? Understanding
the business goal is essential to selecting the right data and metrics.
 Target Audience: Who will be using the dashboard? Different stakeholders may need
different visualizations (e.g., executives vs. analysts).

2. Prepare Your Data

 Data Collection: Gather all the data that you need from various sources like SQL
databases, Excel, cloud-based services (e.g., Google Analytics, Salesforce), APIs, etc.
  Data Cleaning: Clean and format your data for consistency (e.g., handle missing values,
remove duplicates, or standardize units).
 Data Transformation: Power BI has built-in tools like Power Query to transform and
shape the data before loading it into the model.

3. Set Up the Data Model

 Create Relationships: Link tables together based on common fields (e.g., customer ID,
product ID) to build a coherent data model.
 Calculated Columns and Measures: Use DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) to create
custom measures and columns (e.g., Total Revenue, Average Order Value).
 Hierarchies: Create hierarchies (e.g., Year > Quarter > Month) to allow drill-down
capabilities in your visuals.

4. Design the Dashboard

 Select Relevant Visuals: Choose visualizations that best present your data, such as:
o Bar/Column charts for comparisons
o Line graphs for trends over time
o Pie/Donut charts for proportions
o Cards/KPIs for showing summary metrics (e.g., total sales, total customers)
o Maps for geospatial data
 Use Slicers/Filters: Allow users to filter data dynamically. Slicers can be used to filter
data by categories (e.g., time period, region).
 Drill-through and Drill-down: Allow users to explore data at different levels (e.g., from
regional sales to individual store performance).
 Conditional Formatting: Apply color schemes to highlight critical data points or trends.

5. Optimize the Dashboard for User Experience

 Layout and Alignment: Ensure visuals are properly aligned and sized for clarity and
ease of navigation.
 Consistency: Use consistent colors, fonts, and chart types throughout the dashboard for
better readability and interpretation.
 Interactivity: Leverage features like tooltips, bookmarks, and buttons to make the
dashboard interactive.
 Performance: Ensure the dashboard loads quickly by limiting the number of visuals and
applying optimizations (e.g., aggregating data, reducing the complexity of calculations).

6. Share and Publish the Dashboard

 Power BI Service: Publish your dashboard to the Power BI service, making it available
to users for collaboration and viewing.
 Permissions: Set permissions and roles for users to control who can view or edit the
dashboard.
  Scheduled Refresh: Set up data refresh schedules to ensure that the dashboard is always
displaying the most up-to-date information.

7. Monitor and Iterate

 User Feedback: Gather feedback from the dashboard users and iterate on the design to
ensure it meets their needs and expectations.
 Tracking Usage: Use Power BI's usage metrics reports to track how users interact with
the dashboard and identify areas for improvement.

Example: Business Intelligence Dashboard for Sales Performance

 KPIs: Total Sales, Average Order Value, Sales Growth, Customer Retention Rate.
 Visuals:
o Line chart showing monthly sales trends.
o Bar chart comparing sales by region.
o Pie chart showing sales distribution by product category.
o KPI cards for total sales, sales targets, and year-over-year growth.
 Filters: Date range slicer, region slicer, product category slicer.

By following these steps, you can create powerful, interactive intelligence dashboards with
Power BI that provide meaningful insights for decision-makers in your organization.

7. interactive dashboards with Power BI

Creating interactive dashboards with Power BI is a great way to visualize and explore data
dynamically. Here’s a step-by-step guide to building one:

Step 1: Import Data

1. Open Power BI Desktop.

2. Get Data by clicking the “Home” tab and selecting the type of data source you need
(Excel, SQL Server, Web, etc.).
3. Load Data into Power BI. You can either directly import or connect to a data source.

Step 2: Prepare and Clean Data

1. Transform Data: Use Power Query Editor to clean and shape your data. You can filter,
remove duplicates, create calculated columns, etc.
2. Data Modeling: Set up relationships between tables if your data consists of multiple
tables. Ensure that foreign keys are properly linked.

Step 3: Create Visuals

 1. Choose Visual Types: On the "Visualizations" pane, select from various visualizations
like bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, maps, etc.
2. Drag and Drop Fields: Drag the fields (columns) from your data model into the Values,
Axis, Legend, etc., in the visualizations pane.
3. Customize Visuals: Adjust colors, fonts, axis titles, and more to match your desired look
and feel.

Step 4: Add Interactivity

1. Filters: You can add slicers (date filters, categories, etc.) by clicking on the slicer visual.
This allows users to filter the data dynamically.
2. Drill-Through: Set up drill-through functionality, allowing users to right-click on a data
point and view detailed data related to that point.
3. Cross-filtering: By default, visuals interact with each other (e.g., clicking a bar chart will
filter the pie chart), but you can adjust these settings.
4. Bookmarks: Use bookmarks to create predefined views of the report. You can create
buttons or images that allow users to switch between different views.

Step 5: Design Layout

1. Themes: Choose a color theme from the “View” tab or create your custom theme.
2. Gridlines and Alignment: Use the alignment tools to make sure everything is neatly
aligned.
3. Text Boxes and Titles: Add text boxes for titles or descriptions.

Step 6: Publish and Share

1. Publish: Once your dashboard is complete, click “Publish” to upload it to the Power BI
Service.
2. Share: You can share the dashboard via links, embed it in websites, or schedule
automatic email reports.

Step 7: Set Up Refresh Schedules (Optional)

1. Scheduled Refresh: If your data source is dynamic, set up a refresh schedule to ensure
your dashboard always shows the latest data.

Additional Interactive Features:

 Dynamic Parameters: Use parameters to let users control which data is shown based on
their selection.
 Q&A Visual: Add a Q&A visual that allows users to type natural language questions and
get answers directly in the dashboard.

By combining these steps, you can build a fully interactive and visually appealing Power BI
dashboard that can provide insights in real time and cater to the needs of your audience.
 8. Dashboard mechanism in Power BI

In Power BI, a dashboard is a single-page, interactive view that consolidates key business
metrics and insights from various data sources, visualizations, and reports. A dashboard
mechanism refers to the processes and tools involved in creating, configuring, and interacting
with these visualizations. Here’s an overview of the key elements involved:

1. Data Sources

Dashboards in Power BI are created using data from different sources. Power BI can connect to a
variety of data sources, including databases, Excel files, web APIs, cloud services, and more.

 Data Connection: Data can be imported directly or accessed through live connections
(DirectQuery) or from an existing Power BI dataset.
 Query Editor: You can shape and clean the data using Power Query Editor, preparing it
for analysis and visualization.

2. Reports and Visualizations

Power BI dashboards are built from reports. A report is a collection of multiple visualizations
(charts, graphs, tables, maps, etc.) created from your data model.

 Visualizations: These represent the key insights or metrics you wish to present. Power BI
offers a wide variety of built-in visualizations such as bar charts, line graphs, pie charts,
and KPI indicators, as well as custom visuals.
 Reports: A report is a collection of visualizations. It can span multiple pages, and when
published, individual visualizations from the report can be pinned to a dashboard.

3. Dashboards

A dashboard is a pinboard that combines selected visuals from one or more reports into a single,
interactive canvas.

 Pinning: You can pin visuals from reports or even entire report pages onto the
dashboard. This allows you to consolidate important KPIs and metrics from various
reports into one place.
 Interactivity: Dashboards in Power BI are interactive, meaning users can click on a
visualization or a filter and the entire dashboard can be updated accordingly.
 Real-time Data: Dashboards can display real-time data if connected to a live data source.
They automatically refresh based on the refresh schedule set for the data.

4. Tiles

A tile is a single visualization or report element that is pinned to a dashboard. Each tile
represents an individual metric or visualization.
  Static Tiles: These tiles represent a fixed value or image.
 Dynamic Tiles: These tiles display live data and update automatically based on refresh
settings.

5. Filters and Slicers

To make dashboards interactive, you can use filters and slicers:

 Filters: Filters can be applied to individual visualizations, report pages, or entire

dashboards to focus on a subset of data.
 Slicers: These are visual filters that allow users to select values from a list (e.g., date
ranges or categories) to filter data in the entire report or dashboard.

6. Alerts and Notifications

You can set up alerts in Power BI dashboards to get notified when certain thresholds are reached.
For example, you can receive an email alert if a KPI value goes beyond a defined threshold.

7. Sharing and Collaboration

Once a dashboard is created, it can be shared with other users or groups in your organization:

 Publish to Power BI Service: Dashboards can be shared via the Power BI Service,
where users can view and interact with the dashboard online.
 Sharing and Permissions: You can share the dashboard with colleagues, and set
permissions for who can view, edit, or reshare the dashboard.

8. Refresh Mechanism

Dashboards in Power BI can be configured to automatically refresh based on a defined schedule,

ensuring that the data is always up-to-date. For DirectQuery connections, the data is always live
and updated as users interact with the dashboard.

9. Mobile Optimization

Power BI dashboards are mobile-responsive. Users can view and interact with dashboards on
mobile devices, where the layout and visualizations can be optimized for smaller screens.

10. Power BI Service and Power BI Desktop

 Power BI Desktop is where you create and design reports and dashboards.
 Power BI Service is the cloud-based platform where you publish, share, and manage
dashboards and reports, as well as interact with them.

Key Steps to Create a Dashboard in Power BI:

 1. Prepare Data: Import and clean data using Power Query.
2. Create Visualizations: Build visualizations in Power BI Desktop.
3. Publish Reports: Publish the report to Power BI Service.
4. Pin Visualizations to Dashboard: Select key visuals from reports and pin them to the
dashboard.
5. Set Up Interactivity: Use slicers and filters to make the dashboard interactive.
6. Set Refresh Schedules: Configure the data refresh mechanism to keep the dashboard
updated.
7. Share and Collaborate: Share the dashboard with stakeholders or teams.
8. The dashboard mechanism in Power BI is designed to give users a powerful tool to
visualize, monitor, and interact with their data in real time. It integrates data sources,
visualizations, filters, and alerts into a consolidated view, making it easier to make
informed decisions and track key performance metrics.

9. Dynamic Dashboards in Power BI

Dynamic dashboards in Power BI allow users to interact with data visualizations in real-time,
providing insights based on user-selected filters or parameters. These dashboards offer a more
flexible and interactive experience, adapting the data view based on specific needs. Below are
key components and techniques for creating dynamic dashboards in Power BI:

Key Features of Dynamic Dashboards in Power BI:

1. Filters and Slicers:

o Slicers: These are interactive visual elements that allow users to filter data based
on selected categories (e.g., date, product, region). You can add slicers for
dimensions like time, geography, or any other field to make the dashboard
dynamic.
o Filters: You can apply filters at different levels such as at the report, page, or
visual level. Filters can be set dynamically based on user selections.
2. Dynamic Titles and Labels:
o Dynamic titles can change based on the user’s selections. You can use DAX (Data
Analysis Expressions) to create dynamic titles or labels that reflect the filtered
data. For example, a title like "Sales by Region: North America" can change as
users select different regions in a slicer.
3. Bookmarks:
o Bookmarks are snapshots of the current view of a report page. You can create
multiple views and switch between them using buttons or slicers. Bookmarks can
be used to create dynamic storytelling in reports by saving and switching between
various visual states.
4. Drill-Through and Drill-Down:
o Drill-Through: Allows users to click on a specific data point to access more
detailed information on another report page. This is helpful for deep dives into the
data from high-level insights.
 o Drill-Down: Enables users to click on a chart or visual to see more granular
details, for instance, going from yearly data to monthly or daily data.
5. Dynamic Measures:
o You can create dynamic measures using DAX expressions, which can change
based on user selections. For instance, a measure that calculates total sales can
dynamically adjust depending on the region or time period selected in slicers.
6. Conditional Formatting:
o Conditional formatting allows you to dynamically change the appearance of a
visual based on data. For example, you could highlight a value in red if it falls
below a certain threshold or apply color scales based on the value.
7. What-If Parameters:
o You can create What-If parameters that let users adjust input values and see
how they affect the data in the report. For example, a user can adjust the sales
target in a "What-If" scenario and see the impact on the overall performance.

Steps to Create a Dynamic Dashboard in Power BI:

1. Connect to Data:
o Import your data from different sources like Excel, SQL Server, or any other
supported data source.
2. Set up Relationships:
o Ensure that the data model is well-structured, with appropriate relationships
between tables.
3. Create Visualizations:
o Add visualizations such as bar charts, line charts, tables, etc., to your report.
4. Add Slicers and Filters:
o Insert slicers and filters to allow users to interact with the data. Configure them to
control the data shown in visuals based on the selections.
5. Add Dynamic Titles:
o Use DAX to create dynamic titles that adjust based on user inputs.
6. Create Bookmarks:
o Capture different states of your report page using bookmarks to switch between
views.
7. Enable Drill-Through:
o Set up drill-through pages to enable users to click on a data point and get more
detailed insights.
8. Customize with Conditional Formatting:
o Apply conditional formatting to visuals, such as changing colors based on the
values of your measures.
9. Use What-If Parameters:
o Create and integrate What-If parameters to give users flexibility in adjusting
inputs.

Example: Dynamic Sales Dashboard

Imagine you want to create a sales dashboard that lets users explore sales performance across
different regions, time periods, and product categories:

 Slicers for:
o Region: Filters data by the geographic region.
o Time: Allows users to filter by year, quarter, month, or specific dates.
o Product Category: Filters the data by specific product categories.
 Visualizations:
o A line chart showing sales over time.
o A bar chart for sales by region.
o A table displaying detailed sales information.
 Dynamic Title: A title that changes based on slicer selections, e.g., "Sales Performance
in [Selected Region] for [Selected Year]".
 Drill-Through: Clicking on a specific region could take the user to a detailed page with
product-level data.
 Conditional Formatting: Change the color of the bar chart based on sales performance
(green for above target, red for below target).

Power BI's dynamic dashboards enhance the interactivity and usability of reports, allowing users
to explore data and gain insights based on their specific needs. By leveraging filters, slicers,
dynamic titles, bookmarks, and drill-through functionality, you can create highly interactive and
customizable dashboards tailored to various business needs.