Who can Build the Best Power BI Report in 30 minutes?

In this exciting Dev Dash Challenge hosted by Amelia Roberts,   Jonathan Silva and Greg Trzeciak, faced off in a race to build the best Power BI report in just 30 minutes. The challenge centered around creating a compelling Power BI solution using a coffee-themed dataset, with one unique twist: it had to include plenty of buttons to make the report interactive. Let's dive into how the competition unfolded!

The Challenge Setup

• Special Ingredient: Coffee Data - Both contestants had to work with a dataset related to coffee sales in 2023. This dataset included information on products, locations, and transactions.
• Challenge Twist: Buttons - Greg, the challenger, added a twist: both reports had to include buttons to make them interactive. Greg believed buttons would be a great way to help users engage with the report more easily, and this became a key component of the challenge.

Data Prep and Model Building

As the clock started, both trainers dove straight into building their reports. Jonathan, with his more experienced background, opted for a methodical approach to model the data. He focused on preparing the data using Power Query, making sure to clean up columns and define relationships for the date table. His approach aimed at making the report easy to filter by key categories like product types, locations, and transaction dates.

• Jonathan's Approach: He chose to use Power Query to clean and prepare the data. His main focus was on creating a star schema with fact and dimension tables, making it easier to filter and analyze the data.
• Greg's Approach: Greg used DAX to create a date table quickly, saving time for other aspects of the report. He chose a more rapid approach to building his model, focusing on quick visuals and making the report interactive.

Designing the Reports

With their data models in place, both contestants began designing their Power BI reports. While Jonathan took his time adding visuals and ensuring that the report was both functional and aesthetically pleasing, Greg leaned into custom visuals and a more dynamic design. The key difference was their approach to the interactive elements, especially with the buttons Greg had requested.

• Jonathan's Visuals: Jonathan incorporated several slicers, including one for month and store location. His main visual was a map, which allowed users to visualize sales data by location. He also added a matrix visual for detailed data on product categories and sales figures.
• Greg's Visuals: Greg favored a cleaner design, using card visuals to display sales numbers and a tree map to show sales by product category. His use of tooltips allowed for deeper insights when users hovered over items, and he also introduced a dynamic slicer for monthly sales data.

The Button Challenge

As part of the challenge, both contestants were required to use buttons in their reports. Greg's goal was to make the reports more accessible and user-friendly, and he emphasized using buttons for actions like clearing filters and applying slicers. Jonathan also followed this advice, creating a "Clear All Filters" button to allow users to reset their selections quickly.

• Greg's Button Implementation: Greg included several buttons in his report, such as a "Clear All Slicers" button and a "Play" button to dynamically slice data by month.
• Jonathan's Button Implementation: Jonathan incorporated a "Clear All Filters" button, and he also experimented with bookmarks to allow users to switch between different views of the data.

Final Results

As the time ticked down, both trainers were close to finishing their reports. Jonathan focused on polishing the details and ensuring the interactivity worked smoothly. Greg, on the other hand, used his custom visuals to create a visually stunning experience, though a few technical issues with the slicers held him back.

• Jonathan's Report: Jonathan's report included a map, matrix visual, and various slicers to filter by product category and location. He added some conditional formatting to highlight high sales figures in green and low sales figures in red, making it easy for users to spot trends.
• Greg's Report: Greg's report featured a tree map and dynamic slicers. His use of tooltips provided additional context for users, and he also created a "Play" button for slicing data by month, making it feel like the data was being played out over time.

Winner: Jonathan Silva

After 30 minutes of intense work, the reports were presented. While Greg's report was visually dynamic and well-designed, Jonathan's report ultimately won the challenge due to its better functionality and smoother interactivity. His experience allowed him to focus on what truly mattered—clean data, effective visuals, and a user-friendly design that made the report easy to navigate.

The challenge demonstrated the importance of both design and functionality when building a Power BI report. Whether you prioritize custom visuals or focus on a clean, well-organized layout, it’s crucial to make sure your report serves its intended purpose: to make data analysis as easy and insightful as possible for the user.

Conclusion

In this fun and fast-paced competition, Jonathan proved that experience often trumps novelty. However, both trainers showed impressive skills and creativity in their approaches. It was a great example of how Power BI can be used to create interactive, insightful reports that are not only functional but also engaging for users.

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