Power BI Dashboards Design: A Comprehensive Tips Guide

Can data tell a story? Can it captivate an audience and convey a powerful message? The answer lies in the art of Power BI dashboard design. Power BI offers a powerful platform for data visualization, turning raw data into meaningful stories.

The art of storytelling with Power BI dashboard design goes beyond mere data representation. It involves crafting a narrative that engages and informs stakeholders.

Think of Power BI dashboards as your canvas and the data as your paint. With a stroke of creativity and an eye for detail, you can transform raw numbers into captivating stories.

But, like any art form, there’s a delicate balance between aesthetics and functionality. It’s about finding that sweet spot where design elements enhance comprehension without overwhelming the message.

Get ready to dazzle, inspire, and amaze as you reveal the hidden stories waiting to be told. This guide shows you how to compose narratives that captivate your audience, leaving them yearning for more.

Table of Content:

1. What is Power BI Dashboard Design?
2. Why do we need Power BI Dashboard Designs?
3. Essential Components of a Power BI Dashboard Design
4. Power BI Dashboard Designs Industrial Examples
5. How to Pick a Color Theme and Font Style For BI Dashboard Design?
6. Step-by-Step Guide to Power BI Dashboard Design
7. Power BI Dashboards Design: Best Practices
8. Wrap Up

What is Power BI Dashboard Design?

Definition: Power BI dashboard design refers to creating appealing and informative data visualizations using Microsoft’s Power BI platform. It involves selecting the correct data, organizing it effectively, and designing visualizations to present insights clearly and engagingly. The goal is to make complex data easy to understand and enable users to gain valuable insights quickly.

Why do we need Power BI Dashboard Designs?

A beautiful Power BI dashboard design holds immense importance in data analytics and business intelligence. Here are some key reasons why investing time and effort into crafting visually appealing dashboards is crucial:

1. Engaging user experience: A well-designed dashboard in Power BI For Mac or Windows captures users’ attention and encourages them to explore the data further. Using visually compelling elements makes the data more approachable, leading to higher user engagement.
2. Clear communication of insights: Effective data visualization helps present complex information simply and understandably. A well-designed web analytics dashboard allows users to quickly grasp insights and trends from the data, enabling them to make informed decisions efficiently.
3. Enhanced data exploration: A beautiful dashboard entices users to interact with the data, drill down into details, and perform ad-hoc analyses. This makes navigating the data to discover deeper insights effortless.
4. Effective storytelling: Aesthetically pleasing dashboards can tell a story with data. Logically arranging the elements guides users through the data narrative, highlighting key points and drawing conclusions.
5. Time and cost savings: A well-designed dashboard, such as one featuring a Power BI income statement, can save time by providing critical information at a glance. You can avoid sifting through complex spreadsheets and focus on the most relevant data for your decision-making processes.

Power BI Dashboard Designs Industrial Examples

Executive Dashboard Design

Made for chiefs, the Executive dashboard design configuration offers a complete outline of hierarchical execution. It presents key measurements, monetary synopses, and basic KPIs in a natural and outwardly engaging way, empowering pioneers to pursue informed choices initially.

Marketing Agency Client Dashboard Design

Made for bosses, the Marketing Agency dashboard design offers a total blueprint of various leveled execution. It presents key estimations, money-related summaries, and essential KPIs in a characteristic and ostensibly captivating manner, enabling trailblazers to at first seek after informed decisions.

CRM Dashboard Design

Equipped towards Client Relationship The board (CRM), CRM Dashboard design configuration fits client information, deals pipelines, and backing collaborations. It reinforces associations with bits of knowledge into client procurement and fulfillment, cultivating a concentrated perspective on client-related data.

Sales Dashboard Design

Empowering sales teams, this sales dashboard design provides comprehensive insights into sales performance. It tracks sales by region, product performance, and real-time sales tracking, guiding teams to achieve and exceed sales targets.

Finance Dashboard Design

Taking special care of monetary experts, the Finance dashboard design configuration offers a smooth point of interaction to easily explore complex monetary information. Picture spending plan designations, track consumptions, and gain real-time insights into financial performance through interactive charts, graphs, and a comprehensive 3-statement financial model.

These Power BI dashboard design plans are decisively created to meet the particular requirements of their individual spaces, giving significant experiences and encouraging information-driven independent direction.

How to Pick a Color Theme and Font Style For BI Dashboard Design?

1. Know Your Audience: Choose colors and fonts that suit your target users.
2. Match Branding: Align with your company’s brand colors and fonts.
3. Select a Color Palette: Use contrasting colors for clarity and highlights.
4. Choose Readable Fonts: Opt for simple, legible fonts, preferably sans-serif.
5. Keep It Simple: Limit to 2-3 colors and 1-2 fonts.
6. Ensure Accessibility: Check color contrast for readability

Step-by-Step Guide to Power BI Dashboard Design

We shall break down the process into five stages.

Stage 1: Logging in to Power BI

• Log in to Power BI.
• Enter your email. Click the “Submit” button.

• You are redirected to your Microsoft account.
• Enter your password and click “Sign in”.

• Choose whether to stay signed in.

• Once done, the Power BI home screen will open.

Stage 2: Creating a Data Set and Selecting the Data Set to Use in Your Sankey Chart

• Click on the “Create” option on the left-side menu.
• Select ”Paste or manually enter data“.

• We’ll use the following cash flow data for this example.

Total Cost	Company Type	Company Name	Expertise Categories	Expertise	Cost
Total Cost	Subcontractor	Skyline Contractors	Mechanical Installation	Plumbing & Heating	15456
Total Cost	Subcontractor	Skyline Contractors	Mechanical Installation	Mechanical Work	10159
Total Cost	Subcontractor	Onyx General Contractors	Mechanical Installation	Plumbing & Heating	18045
Total Cost	Subcontractor	Onyx General Contractors	Mechanical Installation	Mechanical Work	12695
Total Cost	Subcontractor	Living Well Remodeling	Mechanical Installation	Plumbing & Heating	14589
Total Cost	Subcontractor	Living Well Remodeling	Mechanical Installation	Welding	11456
Total Cost	Supplier	Power-up Builders	Raw Material	Cement	20561
Total Cost	Supplier	Power-up Builders	Raw Material	Steel	32456
Total Cost	Supplier	Five-star Construction	Raw Material	Bricks	10253
Total Cost	Supplier	Five-star Construction	Raw Material	Timber	9000

• Paste the above data table into the “Power Query” window.
• Select the “Create a dataset only” option.

• Click on the “Data Hub” option on the left-side menu.
• Power BI populates the data set list. (If you have not created a data set, refer to the Error! Reference source not found section.)

• Choose the data set you want to use to create your Sankey diagram.
• Power BI populates the screen as shown below:

• Click on the “Create a report” dropdown.
• Select “Start from scratch“.

Stage 3: Adding the Power BI Sankey Diagram Extension by ChartExpo

• Creating the Sankey Diagram requires us to use an add-in or Power BI visual from AppSource.
• Navigate to the right side of the Power BI dashboard.
• Open the Power BI Visualizations panel.
• Click the ellipsis symbol (…) as highlighted in the diagram below. This will import the Power BI Sankey Diagram extension by ChartExpo.

• The following window opens.
• Enter “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” in the highlighted search box.
• You should see the “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” as shown in the image below.

• Click the highlighted “Add” button.

• Power BI will add the “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” icon in the visualization panel.

Stage 4: Drawing a Sankey Diagram with ChartExpo’s Power BI extension

• Select the “Sankey Diagram for Power BI by ChartExpo” icon in the visualization panel.
• The following window opens in the report section of your dashboard:

• You can resize the visual as needed.
• Navigate to the right side of your Power BI dashboard.
• You should see “Fields” next to “Visualizations.”

• You’ll select the fields to use in your Sankey chart here.
• The ChartExpo visual needs to be selected, though. Select the fields in the following sequence:
  • Total Cost
  • Company Type
  • Company Name
  • Expertise Categories
  • Expertise
  • Cost

• You’ll be asked for a ChartExpo license key or email address.

Stage 5: Activate your ChartExpo Trial or Apply a Subscription Key

• Select the ChartExpo visual.
• You should see three icons below “Build Visual” in the Visualizations panel.

• Select the middle icon, “Format visual.”
• The visual properties will be populated as shown below.

• To begin using ChartExpo as a new user;
  • Enter your email address in the textbox under the “Trial Mode” section. ChartExpo will send the License key to this email upon subscribing to the add-in.
  • Ensure you provide an accurate and up-to-date email address.
  • Toggle “Enable Trial” to activate your 7-day trial.

• You should receive a welcome email from ChartExpo.
• If you do not find the email in your inbox, kindly check your spam folder.
• The Sankey Diagram you create under the 7-day trial contains the ChartExpo watermark.

• If you have obtained a license key:
  • Enter your license key in the “ChartExpo License Key” textbox in the “License Settings” section (see below).
  • Slide the toggle switch next to “Enable License” to “On“.

• Your Sankey diagram should now be ready (see below). Note that it does not have a watermark.

• Let’s add a Prefix (such as a $ sign) with the numeric values in the chart.
• Expand the “Stats” properties and include the Prefix value.

• Let’s add colors to each node. Expand the “Level Colors” properties and select the colors.

• Automatically all changes will be saved.

Insights

• At Level 1 (Total Cost), the procurement cost is $155K.
• At Level 2 (Company Type), out of the $155K cost, $72.3K (46.7%) was allocated to the supplier, while $82.4K (53.3%) was spent on subcontractors.
• At Level 3 (Company Name), the supplier cost of $72.3K was divided between two companies: Power-up Builder and Five-star Construction, with charges of $53.0K and $19.3K, respectively.
• The subcontractor cost of $82.4K was distributed among three companies: Skyline Contractors, Onyx General Contractors, and Living Well Remodeling. They charged $25.6K, $30.7K, and $26.0K, respectively, for their services.
• At Level 4 (Expertise Categories), the supplier companies provided raw materials for the procurement, totaling $72.3K. The companies offering Mechanical Installations accounted for approximately $82.4K.
• Within the $72.3K raw material cost, cement, steel, bricks, and timber accounted for $20.6K, $32.5K, $10.3K, and $9K, respectively.
• From the $82.4K mechanical installation cost, Plumbing Heating, Mechanical Work, and Welding accounted for $48.1K, $22.9K, and $11.5K, respectively.

Power BI Dashboards Design: Best Practices

Define Clear Objectives

Clearly define the purpose and objectives of your Power BI dashboard design. Understand the specific insights users are seeking to ensure the dashboard meets their needs.

Prioritize Key Metrics

Focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) dashboard and prioritize essential metrics. Avoid clutter by emphasizing the most critical information for quick and efficient decision-making.

Design Prioritization and Consistency

Establish a clear visual hierarchy to guide users’ attention. Maintain consistency in colors, fonts, and design elements to create a cohesive and professional look.

Use Appropriate Visualizations

Choose visualizations that effectively represent the data and support the narrative. Select the right chart types to enhance understanding and interpretation of information, such as those that illustrate cost of living comparisons by city.

Interactivity for User Engagement

Implement interactive elements such as slicers, filters, and drill-throughs to engage users. Allow them to explore and analyze data dynamically for a more personalized experience.

Responsive Design for Accessibility

Ensure your Power BI dashboard design is responsive, adapting to various screen sizes and devices. This enhances accessibility and usability for a diverse user base.

Regular Maintenance and Updates

Regularly review and update your PBI dashboard design to reflect changing business requirements. Address issues, update data sources, including the Power BI connector, and incorporate user feedback for continuous improvement.

These best practices will help you create PBI dashboards that are user-friendly, visually compelling, and provide meaningful insights for effective decision-making, especially when comparing Looker vs Power BI.

FAQs

How to design a Power BI dashboard?

1. Define clear objectives and target audience.
2. Gather and prepare relevant data.
3. Choose appropriate visualizations.
4. Organize the layout for a clear flow of information.
5. Add interactive elements for user exploration.
6. Apply consistent branding and design elements.
7. Test and gather feedback for improvements.

How many visuals should be on a Power BI dashboard?

The number of visuals on a Power BI dashboard can vary based on data complexity and objectives. However, keeping the number of visuals between 6 to 12 is generally recommended to avoid overwhelming users.

How do I make my Power BI dashboard look good?

To make your Power BI dashboard look good:

1. Use a clean and simple design.
2. Choose an appealing color scheme.
3. Align elements for visual consistency.
4. Optimize font sizes and styles.
5. Select appropriate visualizations.
6. Add interactive features.

What makes a good Power BI dashboard design?

A good Power BI dashboard design should be easy to use, with a logical flow and clear navigation.

It should also have clear section headings, labels, and descriptions. In addition, displays accurate and up-to-date data with automated data refreshes.

Overall, a good Power BI dashboard design should prioritize functionality and user experience to ensure maximum impact and value.

What are the common mistakes while designing Power BI dashboards?

There are common pitfalls when designing Power BI dashboards. They include

• Overloading the dashboard with too much information.
• Using the wrong visuals.
• Inconsistent formatting.
• Not considering the layout.

Wrap Up

Power BI dashboard design is more than assembling charts and graphs; it’s the art of storytelling through data.

Adhering to the principles of clear objectives, simplicity, and visual hierarchy helps you transform data into captivating narratives. Each chart, graph, or table should contribute to the overall narrative. Guiding the viewer through the data and highlighting key insights.

A beautifully designed BI dashboard engages users, conveys complex insights effectively, and fosters data-driven cultures within organizations. Like artists carefully craft each brushstroke, a well-crafted dashboard requires thoughtful consideration of data, audience, and design elements.

The digital era continues to embrace data as its greatest asset. Therefore, mastering the art of Power BI dashboard design becomes an indispensable skill. Embrace this art; you will wield the power to enlighten, inform, and inspire with data stories.

Let ChartExpo be the brush that paints a story that captivates and informs like never before.