Visualizations in Power BI and What to Use Them for

Power BI is a powerful tool for data analysis and visualization that offers a variety of visual types to choose from. In this blog post, we will explore some of the most common and useful visualizations in Power BI and what they can help you achieve.

Link to a great Visual reference guide.

Visualizations in Power BI

Area Charts

Area charts are based on line charts, but they fill the area between the axis and the line with a color. Area charts are useful for showing the magnitude of change over time, or the total value across a trend. For example, you can use an area chart to show the profit over time for different product categories.

Bar and Column Charts

Bar and column charts are similar, but they have different orientations. These charts have horizontal bars, while column charts have vertical bars. Both types of charts are good for comparing values across categories, such as sales by region or customer satisfaction by product. You can also use stacked or clustered variants of bar and column charts to show subcategories within each category.

Cards

Cards are simple visuals that display a single data point, such as a number, a percentage, or a KPI. They are useful for highlighting key facts or metrics that you want to draw attention to in your report or dashboard. For example, you can use a card to show the total revenue, the market share, or the number of opportunities.

Combo Charts

Combo charts combine a column chart and a line chart in one visual. This allows you to compare multiple measures with different value ranges or units on the same axis. Combo charts are helpful for illustrating the correlation or contrast between two measures, such as revenue and profit margin, or sales and target.

Decomposition Tree

The decomposition tree is an AI-powered visual that lets you drill down into your data across multiple dimensions. It automatically aggregates data and suggests the next dimension to explore based on certain criteria. The decomposition tree is a great tool for ad hoc analysis and root cause investigation. For example, you can use a decomposition tree to find out why sales are low in a certain region or segment.

Doughnut Charts

Doughnut charts are similar to pie charts, but they have a hole in the center. These charts are suitable for showing the proportion of each category in a total value, such as market share by product or revenue by source. However, they are not recommended for comparing more than a few categories, as they can become hard to read.

Funnel Charts

Funnel charts are shaped like a funnel, with each segment representing a stage in a process. These charts are ideal for showing how values change from one stage to another, such as conversion rates in a sales pipeline or customer journey.

Gauge Charts

Gauge charts are circular visuals that show a single value and how it compares to a target or a range. Gauges are often used for displaying performance indicators, such as progress towards a goal or status of a metric.

Key Influencers Chart

The key influencers chart is another AI-powered visual that helps you identify the factors that have the most impact on a selected measure or outcome. This chart shows you how different values of each factor affect the measure or outcome, and ranks them by their influence score. The key influencers chart is useful for finding insights and explanations behind your data. For example, you can use a key influencers chart to discover what affects customer satisfaction or sales performance.

Line Charts

Line charts use lines to connect data points over time or across categories. Lines are good for showing trends, patterns, or fluctuations in data over time, such as sales growth, stock prices, or temperature changes.

Maps

Maps are visuals that display data on a geographical map. They are perfect for showing spatial relationships or regional variations in data, such as sales by country, population density by state, or crime rates by city.

Matrix

A matrix is a tabular visual that displays data in rows and columns. Matrix chart can have hierarchies in both rows and columns, allowing you to expand and collapse levels of detail. A matrix is similar to a table, but it can also show values as colors or icons based on conditional formatting rules. A matrix is convenient for showing data in a compact and structured way.

Pie Charts

Pie charts are circular visuals that divide a whole into slices based on the proportion of each category. These charts are commonly used for showing percentage breakdowns of data, such as revenue by product category or expenses by type. However, pie charts have some limitations and drawbacks, such as difficulty in comparing slices or reading labels.

Power Apps Visual

The Power Apps visual lets you embed a Power App into your Power BI report. You can use it to collect user input, update data sources, trigger workflows, and more.

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