In this detailed video by Allison Gonzalez, a Microsoft Certified Trainer, viewers are introduced to the various visuals available in Power BI. The video covers basic visuals like slicers, bar charts, and line charts, helping report builders understand how to modify and use them to showcase data effectively. Let's dive into the key insights from the session.
1. Understanding Power BI Visuals
Allison emphasizes the importance of selecting the right visuals for the data you want to represent. She walks through some of the most common visuals used in Power BI reports and how they can be customized for better data presentation. The video primarily focuses on standard visuals, with a future video dedicated to custom visuals available in Power BI's AppSource.
2. Slicer Visual
- The slicer visual is essential for filtering data. In this example, it is used to filter the dataset by year.
- Allison demonstrates how users can select specific years and even multi-select multiple years for comparison using the Ctrl key.
- Customization options include adjusting the slicer's display style: vertical list, tile, or dropdown. Allison prefers the tile option for its button-like appearance.
- Additional features allow users to disable the header, adjust text, borders, and backgrounds for a more polished presentation.
3. Bar and Column Charts
- Bar and column charts are among the most common visuals. The stacked bar chart provides a way to show the breakdown of categories in a bar or column.
- Switching from a stacked to a clustered chart provides a clearer comparison of categories within a visual.
- The 100% stacked option converts values into percentages, ideal for analyzing parts of a whole.
- Allison highlights the importance of removing unnecessary titles and adjusting axis labels for clearer readability.
4. Line Charts and Area Charts
- Line charts are ideal for tracking trends over time. Allison introduces the area chart, which fills the area below the line, offering a more solid visual representation of data distribution.
- Power BI allows for customization of the x and y axes, legends, data labels, and even trend lines such as constant, minimum, or maximum lines.
- These settings can be adjusted to emphasize the most important parts of your data, especially for trend analysis.
5. Scatter Charts
- The scatter chart enables visualization of relationships between two numerical variables. Key features include fields for x and y axes, legend, size, and a play axis for showing data over time.
- Customization includes adjusting bubble size, colors, and plot area background to improve data clarity.
- Allison also demonstrates the use of the scatter chart for tracking multiple data points through a dynamic timeline.
6. Tree Maps and Waterfall Charts
- Tree maps allow users to visualize hierarchical data in a compact, easy-to-read format. They enable drilling down into data points to view more granular information.
- The waterfall chart is useful for understanding changes in data over time, especially when visualizing profit growth or financial data.
- Waterfall charts display each incremental change in a dataset, making it easy to track performance across different time periods.
7. Pie and Donut Charts
- Pie and donut charts are used to show the parts of a whole. These visuals are best when you have distinct categories contributing to a total sum.
- Allison recommends using donut charts with icons, as they provide a more visually appealing and informative display.
8. Gauge and Card Visuals
- The gauge visual shows progress toward a target value. Users can customize the minimum, maximum, and target values for clear goal tracking.
- The card visual is used to display a single data point, often linked to filters. It's a simple but effective way to highlight key metrics like sales or profit.
9. Maps in Power BI
- Power BI offers several map visuals, including the globe map, filled map, and Azure map. These maps are useful for geographic data visualization.
- Customization allows for setting map styles, adjusting bubble sizes, and controlling map zoom levels to get the most relevant view of your data.
- The Azure map is particularly useful for handling complex geographic data and supports additional features like traffic layers.
10. Custom Visuals and Conclusion
In this video, Allison covers most of the built-in Power BI visuals. However, she teases an upcoming video focused on custom visuals available through Power BI's AppSource, offering additional ways to enhance your reports.
Pragmatic Works encourages viewers to experiment with these visuals and discover how to present data effectively. Understanding how each visual works will allow users to create engaging and insightful reports tailored to their audience.
For more tips and detailed guides on Power BI, be sure to check out the Pragmatic Works channel for other training resources.
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