Create a data-driven story with Power

BI reports
 1 hr 44 min
 Module
 15 Units
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Intermediate
Data Analyst
Power BI
Microsoft Power Platform

Power BI helps you create vibrant, highly useful reports that form a cohesive, data-
driven story. You’ll learn how to use buttons, bookmarks, and other navigation
techniques. Additionally, you’ll learn how to integrate Power BI reports with other
applications. Power BI visuals can interact with each other, letting the user see exactly
which data is appealing to them. You’ll also explore Power BI report themes to create
a unified reporting experience across all reports.

Learning objectives
In this module, you will:
 Design a report layout.
 Add buttons, bookmarks, and selections.
 Design report navigation.
 Use basic interactions.
 Use advanced interactions and drillthrough.
 Configure conditional formatting.
 Apply slicing, filtering, and sorting.
 Publish and export reports.
 Comment on reports.
 Use Performance analyzer to tune reports.
 Optimize reports for mobile use.
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Prerequisites
None

This module is part of these learning paths

  Visualize data in Power BI
 Introduction to create a data-driven story with Power BI reports 2 min
 Design a report layout13 min
 Add buttons, bookmarks, and selections7 min
 Design report navigation3 min
 Use basic interactions4 min
 Use advanced interactions and drill through7 min
 Configure conditional formatting2 min
 Apply slicing, filtering, and sorting6 min
 Publish and export reports2 min
 Comment on reports1 min
 Tune report performance4 min
 Optimize reports for mobile use3 min
 Lab - Enhance Power BI reports with slicers, interaction, and formatting 45 min
 Check your knowledge3 min
 Summary2 min

Introduction to create a data-driven story

with Power BI reports
Completed100 XP
 2 minutes

Organizations use reports to monitor and record performance and identify trends and
variances. When an organization is making decisions, it relies on the information that is
provided by reports. Reports drive organizational behavior and action, at every level, in every
aspect.

After you've added visuals to your report, you can make further improvements and modify
the report before finally sharing it with the report audience. In this module, you'll apply the
available functions in the report editor in Power BI Desktop to your visuals, which will
transform your report into a data-driven story. You'll provide users with a more effective
report layout and navigation experience, and give them additional tools so they can further
explore the information that you present in your visuals. Then, you'll publish the report so
users can access the information that they need to make decisions.

This module is instructional until you reach the interactive lab. In this module's scenario, you
work as a Power BI developer for Tailwind Traders. Your managers have found it difficult to
make good business decisions based on the current quality of the reports. Consequently, your
managers have requested one report that displays all the information that they need to
accomplish their yearly planning and forecasting activities, ultimately helping them make
better, strategic organizational decisions. They want the report to be concise, accurate, and
well-designed, and it must display information in a compelling way that is simple to navigate
and complies with current accessibility standards.

You have already begun adding and customizing visuals on the report. Now, you need to take
the report to the next level to meet management's requirements.
By the end of this module, you will be able to: 

 Design a report layout.

 Add buttons, bookmarks, and selections.
 Design report navigation.
 Use basic interactions.
 Use advanced interactions and drillthrough.
 Configure conditional formatting.
 Apply slicing, filtering, and sorting.
 Publish and export reports. 
 Comment on reports.
 Use Performance analyzer to tune reports.
 Optimize reports for mobile use.

Next unit: Design a report layout

Continue

Design a report layout

Completed100 XP

 13 minutes

The page layout of the reports that you create in Power BI Desktop will likely depend on the
business requirements, the context of the underlying data, and the output requirements. For
example, if you are designing a dashboard, you'll need to present high-level information on a
single page. If you are designing a report, it is a multi-perspective view into your dataset,
with visuals that represent different findings and insights from that dataset.

Report design best practice

The first step in designing an exceptional report layout is to choose the correct format.
Likely, your manager (or whoever requested the report) will give you some requirements in
terms of format. If not, you'll need to consider the audience and speculate about the kind of
format that they'll want.

For example, if your report users have a technical background and are looking for specific
facts, you can use multiple, complex visuals that offer the most detail, along with interactive
slicers. Conversely, if your users are looking for quick data insights at a high level, you could
use a small range of basic visuals.

If you have been given some layout requirements, you still need to carefully consider the
report audience. Your goal is to provide the audience with the information that they need, in
an optimal way. While you might have a strong opinion about what data to display and how
to display it, ultimately, the report is not for you, it is for a dedicated audience that needs to
make business decisions based on your report.
Considering the different needs of the report audience is crucial. Your report audience might
have hearing, motor, cognitive, or visual impairment. To accommodate those needs, you
should create a report that offers an accessible experience, which means that the report will
be simple to navigate and understand by keyboard or screen-reader users. You'll learn more
about design and configuring your report for accessibility in subsequent sections.

Carefully consider each visual and element that you plan on using in the report. Everything
should have a purpose, and you should consider how each element will appear to your report
users. While you might consider using different types of visuals for the sake of variety or to
demonstrate your skillset, sometimes a simple visual is all that you need. Likely, your
organization will have style guidelines for reports, in which case, you'll have to adhere to
particular color scheme and font. Do keep in mind that the more visuals you use in your
report, the more that they impact the performance of your report.

Other key guidelines for creating a well-designed report layout include:

 Draw a sketch of your report layout. This approach will help you get an idea of
what it will look like before you spend considerable time physically designing
it. Alternatively, you could draw multiple sketches, where you try out different
ideas and then discuss these ideas with your team to help select the best layout
design.
 Focus on the most important information. Highlight key parts of your report
with a bright color or summary icon so that it stands out and draws users to the
most critical metrics.
 Select the right background for the context of your report. A white background
can make your report look clean and professional, whereas a black background
can draw attention to colorful highlights on the report. Using images as a
background can add visual interest.

The following image shows a poorly designed report layout, which you should avoid. A later
section will provide an example of the same report but with an improved design.
The following sections provide more detailed guidance for setting up the report page and
using visuals.

Report page

It is important to consider that you and the report users might view the reports on screens
with different aspect ratios and sizes.

The default display view is Fit to page, which means that the contents are scaled to best fit
the page. If you need to change this view, go to the View tab, select Page view, and then
select your preferred page view option, as illustrated in the following screenshot.

To access the page settings, select the white space on your report canvas to open
the Format pane. You can then configure the following settings to suit your needs: Page
information, Page alignment, Page size, Wallpaper, Page background, and Filter pane.
Visuals

You might want to use a combination of visuals in your report, such as cards, charts, tables,
slicers, and so on. It is important to use the right number of visuals on a page, and then size
and position those visuals strategically.

Number of visuals

Consider the number of visuals (including slicers) that you want to use on each report page.
Using more visuals might have the opposite effect to what you are trying to achieve. More
visuals might make your report look too busy, causing users to feel overwhelmed because
they don't know where to focus their attention. Also, visuals are key factors in the
performance of your report; they contribute to performance issues. The fewer visuals you use,
the better the performance will be.

It's best to limit the number of visuals that you use on a page. Examine each visual and ask
yourself if it's necessary. If a visual does not add value to the audience, you should not use it
in your report.

Rather than using multiple visuals, you can provide information in other ways, such as
drillthrough pages and report page tooltips. You'll learn more about these elements later in
this module.

Position of visuals

When you add visualizations to a report, you can move those visuals to specific locations on
the page and make them larger or smaller for a more effective display.

It is best practice to place the most important visual in the upper-left corner of your report
because your users most likely read left-to-right and top-to-bottom. You might also want to
place your organization's logo in or near this area. You can then arrange the other visuals
accordingly.

To move a visualization, select any area of the visualization and then drag it to the new
location.

To evenly distribute distance between visuals that are located on the canvas, you can also use
the Align function. Use CTRL+click to select all visuals that you want to align, select
the Format tab, and then select Distribute horizontally.
The visuals will then be evenly distributed.

Size of visuals

When you add a visual to a report, Power BI determines the size of that visual by default.
You can resize that visual to ensure that it presents the displayed information most optimally.
For example, if the visual is of a small car, you might want to make the visual smaller.
Similarly, if you are working with a scatter chart visual with extensive data, you might want
to make that visual larger in size so users can see the data clearly.

To resize a visual, select the visual to display its border, and then select and drag the dark
frame handles to the size that you want it to be.

Interaction of visuals

The visuals that you add to your report will interact with each other. For example, when you
select an element in one visual, such as a product category, the other visuals will update in
relation to that element; they might highlight or filter the specific data that they display.
Therefore, when you are designing the report, it is important to understand these interactions
and consider how they might affect the overall user experience of the report. You have
control over how interactions flow between the visuals; therefore, you might want to change
a filter action to a highlight (and contrariwise), or prevent an interaction from happening.
This process will be further explained later in this module.
Hierarchies in visuals

Likely, you'll have a number of hierarchies in your data, so you should consider how these
hierarchies will affect how the data displays in the visuals and the navigation experience of
your report users. You can set how hierarchies are presented in the visuals. You can also
determine the hierarchical path of visuals so that you have full control over what level of
detail can be accessed. You'll learn more about hierarchies later in this module.

Report accessibility
It is essential that you consider the possibility that your users might have hearing, motor,
cognitive, or visual impairments. Therefore, make sure that you design a report that adheres
to accessibility standards and that uses the available accessibility features within Power BI
Desktop.

Designing a report that offers an accessible experience will benefit all report users because it
ensures that your report has an effective design and uses consistent formatting and color
scheme or theme.

Generally, when you are using Power BI with a screen reader, we recommend that you turn
scan mode or browse mode off.

To improve the process of creating reports with screen readers, a context menu is available.
The menu allows you to move fields in the well up or down in the Fields list. The menu also
allows you to move fields to other wells, such as Legend, Value, Small Multiples,
and Tooltips.

Accessibility standards

Power BI is committed to accessibility standards under the Web Content Accessibility

Guidelines (WCAG). The standards help ensure that your Power BI experiences are
accessible to as many people as possible. When you build accessible reports or dashboards,
that content is accessible for anyone who views them by using Power BI Mobile.

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) help make web content accessible to people
with disabilities. The key principles of the guidelines are:

 Perceivable - Information and user interface components must be presentable to

users in ways that they can perceive.
 Operable - User interface components and navigation must be operable.
 Understandable - Information and the operation of the user interface must be
understandable.

Accessibility features

The following accessibility features are built in to Power BI Desktop, so you don't need to do
any configuration in this regard:

 Keyboard navigation
 Screen-reader compatibility
 High contrast colors view
 Focus mode
 Show data table

Accessibility features that you do need to configure include:

 Alt text
 Tab order
 Titles and labels
 Markers
 Themes

Alt text

To accommodate report consumers who use screen readers, you can use alternative (alt) text
to describe the appearance and function of objects (such as a visual, shape, and so on) on the
report page. Alt text helps you ensure that users understand what you are trying to
communicate with those objects, even if they are unable to see them.

To add alt text to an object, select that object and, in the Visualizations pane, open
the Format pane. Expand the General section, scroll to the bottom of the options, and then
enter a description in the Alt Text box. Repeat this step for every object that conveys
meaningful information on a report.

If you do not want to use static text, you can use Data Analysis Expressions (DAX) measures
and conditional formatting to create dynamic alt text. Screen readers will then call out values
that are specific to the data that a report user is viewing.
To apply conditional formatting, right-click the Alt Text box, select Conditional
formatting, and then configure the settings as required.

Tab order

To help keyboard users navigate your report in an order that matches the way that visual
users would, you can set the tab order.

To set the tab order, select the View tab in the ribbon and then select Selection Pane. On
the Selection pane that displays, use the arrow buttons to move the objects to the correct
order, or select an object with your mouse and drag it into the position that you want in the
list.

To hide an object from the tab order, select the number next to that object. For example, it's
best to hide decorative shapes and images that you have in your report.
Titles and labels

To help all users, you should provide clear, concise, descriptive titles for your visuals and
report pages. Avoid using acronyms or jargon that new users or users who are external to
your organization will not understand.

Compare the following images, where the image on the left shows a visual with an acronym
in the title, and the image on the right shows a visual with a clearer title.
Make sure that all labels within a visual are easy to read and understand. You can turn on or
off the labels for each series in your visual or position them above or below a series to make
them clearer. Don't turn on labels for every visual because it might have the opposite effect
by distracting users and making your report less accessible.

Compare the following images, where the first image has fewer numbers or descriptions of
the data, whereas the second has several.
Markers

It's best practice to avoid using color (including the feature's conditional formatting) as the
only way of conveying information. Instead, you can use markers to convey different series.
For line, area, and combo visuals, including scatter and bubble visuals, you can turn on
markers and use a different shape for each line.

Keep in mind that, if you turn on markers for every visual, it might be distracting and make
your report less accessible for users.

To turn on markers, in the Format pane, expand the Shapes section, and then scroll down

and move the Show marker slider to the On position.
Themes

To make your reports even more accessible, ensure that enough contrast exists between the
text and background colors; the contrast ratio should be at least 4.5:1. Several tools are
available for you to use to check your report colors, such as Color Contrast Analyzer,
WebAIM, and Accessible Colors.

Some of your report viewers might have color vision deficiencies. Using fewer colors or a
monochrome palette in your report can help mitigate the creation of inaccessible reports. The
following color combinations are difficult for users with color vision deficiencies to
distinguish, so you should avoid using them together in a chart or on the same report page.

 Green and red

 Green and brown
 Blue and purple
 Green and blue
 Light green and yellow
 Blue and grey
 Green and grey
 Green and black

Power BI Desktop has built-in themes that you can use to make your report more accessible
and generally look better. You can access these themes from the View tab. Select
the Expand button to view all available themes and related options. Select any theme and it
will automatically apply across the whole report. All visuals will use the colors and
formatting from your selected theme as their defaults.

You can also import or create your custom themes by expanding the
following Themes options.
The following image depicts the same report that was shown at the beginning of this unit.
However, in this image, the report has a better design; it has a planned layout and consistent
color scheme and formatting.
Next unit: Add buttons, bookmarks, and selections
Continue

Add buttons, bookmarks, and

selections
Completed100 XP
 7 minutes

You can use the Bookmarks, Buttons, and Selections features in Power BI Desktop

to make your report more compelling, interactive, and simpler for users to navigate.

 Bookmarks - Capture the currently configured view of a report page so

you can quickly return to that view later. You can use bookmarks for
different reasons. For example, you can use them to keep track of your
own progress when creating reports. You can also use them to build a
PowerPoint-like presentation that goes through the bookmarks in order,
thereby telling a story with your report.
 Buttons - Create a more interactive experience for the report users. With
the addition of buttons that have assigned actions, your report behaves
similar to an app, where users can hover, select, and interact more with
the content.
  Selections - Allow you to determine what items in the report are visible
and what items are hidden. Selections are used alongside bookmarks
and buttons.

Consider a situation where you have designed a report page and want to have a
second page that looks almost the same, except that one of the visuals will be
different. Rather than creating a second page and manually making changes, you can
use a combination of selections, bookmarks, and buttons to switch between the two
visuals on one page.

Add bookmarks
When you add a bookmark, the following elements are saved with it:

 Current page
 Filters
 Slicers, including slicer type (for example, drop-down or list) and slicer
state
 Visual selection state (such as cross-highlight filters)
 Sort order
 Drill location
 Visibility of an object (by using the Selection pane)
 Focus or Spotlight modes of any visible object

In this example, you want to add bookmarks to allow users to switch between two
visuals on one page. First, you need to set up how you want the page to initially
display.

When you have added and formatted all the visuals and other items on the page,
you can add a bookmark to capture a snapshot of the page in its current state.

Before adding a bookmark, go to the View tab in the ribbon and select Selection.

The displayed Selection pane includes a list of all items on your page, along with an
eye icon that indicates the items that are currently visible. You can rename the items
in the list by double-clicking them so you clearly know which one is which.

Now you are ready to add the bookmark. On the View tab, select Bookmarks. On

the Bookmarks panel that displays, select Add. It's good practice to rename the new
bookmark so its purpose is clear; this notion is especially true if you plan on adding
multiple bookmarks. To rename a bookmark, double-click the bookmark and enter
the new name. In this example, you want to change the bookmark name
from Bookmark 1 to Variance Chart because the Variance chart is the main focus
of the page, as shown in the following image. In the Selection pane,
the Variance chart displays and the other visuals are hidden.

Next, you can add the second bookmark. Start by making changes to how the page
currently appears. In this example, you will add another bookmark for the main
dashboard charts. Because you only want to see charts from the main dashboard,
you can hide the Variance chart by selecting its eye icon on the Selections pane.
Then, add a bookmark for this new view of the page and rename it as Main
Dashboard.

Now, you can switch between the two bookmarks to see the difference in the page.
Repeat these steps to add more bookmarks. In summary, you would select items that
you want to show/hide on the report page, add a bookmark, and then give it a
descriptive name.

You can now assign those bookmarks to buttons so that users can switch between
the bookmarks.

Add buttons
You can use buttons for many reasons, such as to switch between two visuals in a
report (as required in the previous example), to drill down into the data in a visual, or
to move from one page in your report to another. Power BI Desktop provides a
range of button types that you can add to your report, as illustrated in the following
image.
In this example, you want to add customized buttons that are used to switch
between two bookmarks. To add a button, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon and
select Buttons. Then, select the type of button that you want to add from the list,
which in this case, you would select the Blank option.

When the button is added to the page, reposition the button to above the visual on
the right side. Next, select the button and then, in the Visualizations pane, move
the Button Text slider to the On position. Expand the Button Text section, and then
enter the text that you want to display on the button, for example, Main Dashboard.
You can then format the button text by changing its font, color, alignment, and text
size. Expand the Background section and select a suitable color for the button.
Now, you can add an action to the button. Go to the Action slider near the bottom
of the Visualizations pane and move the slider to the On position. Then, expand
the Actions section to view the options. The options for the button action types are
as follows, some of which are explained in more detail in the subsequent sections.

 Back - Returns the user to the previous page of the report. This option is
useful for drillthrough pages or pages that are accessed from one main
page.
 Bookmark - Presents the report page that's associated with a bookmark
that is defined for the current report.
 Drill through - Brings the user to a drillthrough page that is filtered to
their selection, without using bookmarks.
 Page navigation - Brings the user to a different page within the report,
also without using bookmarks, which is an effective way to create a
navigation experience for your report users. This type of button is
discussed later in this module.
 Q&A - Opens a Q&A Explorer window, where users can enter questions
to quickly find the information that they are looking for and specify the
type of visual that they want to see the information displayed in. This
 option can be useful if you want to save space in the report but still
offer Q&A functionality to the user.
 Web URL - Opens a website in a new browser window. For example, you
might want to give users quick access to your organization's website or
intranet from within a report.

In this example, you select Bookmark as the action type. In the Bookmark list that

displays, select the bookmark that you want to assign to the action, the Main
Dashboard bookmark that you created previously. For enhanced accessibility, you
should add a tooltip that users will see when they hover over the button, but in this
case, it's not required because you have a descriptive button label.

Now that your button is set up, you can copy and paste the button so that you have
two buttons with consistent formatting on the page. In this example, you rename the
second button to Variance Chart and change the assigned action to the Variance
Chart bookmark.
You can then reposition the buttons anywhere on your canvas. For this example, you
will position the new buttons on the left side of the canvas for easy navigation.

Your buttons are now ready for use. You can use them to switch between two
bookmarks with a different layout on the same page. When you select the Main
Dashboard button, the main dashboard charts display, and when you select
the Variance Chart button, the Variance chart displays.

Next unit: Design report navigation

Design report navigation

Completed100 XP
 3 minutes

Report navigation is the way in which your report users move from one page in your
report to the next, move from one visual to another, and return to where they
started. The design of your report navigation is important because, if users can't
easily find their way around in your reports, they will become frustrated and will have
a negative experience.

You can use a range of buttons and bookmarks when designing your report
navigation, and you can further enhance this navigation experience with the use of
conditional formatting.

Add navigation buttons

To design the navigation within your report, you can create a new Navigation page
in your report and add navigation buttons on that page. You can also use a
combination of both options. When users select one of these buttons, they are
brought directly to a different page within the report, which you can hide so that it
can only be accessed through the Navigation page buttons.
In the following example, you will create a Navigation page on which you add two
navigation buttons to your other pages.

Start by adding a button, as you did previously. This time, however, when you expand
the Actions section in the Visualizations pane, select Page navigation as the action
type, and then select the page in your report that is the Destination for the button.

When you have set up the first navigation button, copy and paste that button to
create the second navigation button so you preserve the formatting that you applied
to the first button. Then, change the title and destination for the second button.

When you select a button, you will be brought directly to the assigned page
destination. When you are on that destination page, to return to
the Navigation page, you can use one of the following Back button navigation
options:

 Select the Back button from the main Buttons menu, and then

reposition the button to where you want it to sit on the page.
  Select the Blank button from the main Buttons menu, reposition and
customize the button as required, and then select Back as the action
type.

Set the navigation destination

You can use conditional formatting to set the navigation destination based on the
output of a measure. One reason that you might want to use this type of navigation
method is to save space in your report. For example, rather than using multiple
navigation buttons (as illustrated in the previous image), you can use a single button
to navigate to different pages based on the user's selection (as illustrated in the
following image).

Other reasons for using this type of navigation include:

 To specify the logical path that your report users should take. In other
words, you determine the order in which users view each page.
 To tell a data-driven story. For example, you could use it to give your
employees a message that is backed up by the data. This method could
be useful to help drive change, such as increase sales.
 To create a reporting portal where users can navigate to a set of reports.

To use conditional formatting to set the navigation, start by creating a single-column

table that contains the names of the navigation destinations. In the table, ensure that
the entered values match your report page names.
When you load the table, add it to the report page as a single-select slicer. Next, add
a page navigation button. In the Actions section, ensure that None is set as
the Destination, right-click the destination, and then select Conditional formatting.

On the Destination window, select the name of the column that you created. Notice
that, based on the user's selection, the button can navigate to different pages.
Configure the conditional formatting to complete your navigation design.
Next unit: Use basic interactions

Use basic interactions

Completed100 XP
 4 minutes

In Power BI Desktop, your report is dynamic. When you make a selection on one visual in
the report, other visuals might change to reflect that selection. Similarly, if hierarchies are in
your data, you can move up and down the hierarchy to see the data at different levels.

The following sections explain how the basic interactions work and how you can use
hierarchies in your visuals.

View interactions
When multiple visuals exist on the same report page, they all interact with each other. For
that reason, you should become familiar with these interactions to see how your report
changes.

Compare the following two images. In the first image, the data displays at a high level.

When you select an element in a visual, such as Components in the Product

Category visual, the other visuals update to reflect your selection, as illustrated in the second
image.
When you have become familiar with the interactions, you might want to make changes to
control how those interactions flow between the visuals. This process is further explained
later in this module.

Use hierarchies
A hierarchy is a structure in which groups are ranked one above the other according to a
specific status. Think of your own organizational hierarchy, where the CEO is at the top
level, then managers in the middle level, and employees at the lower level. Similarly, you'll
likely have hierarchies for your data in Power BI. For example, you could have a time
hierarchy with levels such as year, quarter, month, and day, or a product hierarchy with levels
such as category, subcategory, and product.

Regarding dates, Power BI creates hierarchies for you automatically. When you select the
hierarchy in the Fields pane, the date hierarchy is added to the Axis field on
the Visualizations pane and a blank visual is created for you, which is ready for additional
fields. The hierarchy icons are located above the visual, as illustrated in the following image.

When you add another field to the visual, the visual becomes useful, and you can then use the
hierarchy icons to navigate through the hierarchy. Power BI creates a predefined drill path for
the data. In the following image, the Gross Sales field was added to the visual and you can
see the data at the highest level (year). Then, when the Expand all down one level in the
hierarchy button was selected, the hierarchy was expanded down by one level (quarter). If
you were to select the button again, the visual would update to display the next lower level in
the hierarchy (month), and so on.

Another navigation option is the Go to the next level in the hierarchy button. When you
select either hierarchy option, select the Drill up button to move back up the hierarchy.

The default date hierarchy feature in Power BI is quick and simple to use. However, if you
have your own date table, you can use it to create the hierarchy instead. In the following
image, the Year, Month, Quarter, and Day fields were added to the Axis field well on
the Visualizations pane. The data result is the same as the default hierarchy, so you can
navigate through the hierarchy in the same way.
You can also predefine the hierarchy path for your report users to remove any guesswork. For
example, you might want to prevent users from viewing a particular hierarchy level. To do
so, remove all fields from the Axis well and then, in the Fields pane, right-click the field that
you want to set as the top level of the hierarchy and select New hierarchy. The new
hierarchy displays in the list in the Fields pane. You can now drag and drop other fields into
the new hierarchy or right-click each field and select Add to hierarchy.

Ensure that your visual is selected, and then select the New hierarchy field in
the Fields pane to apply it to the visual.

You can use the hierarchy buttons above the visual to expand the hierarchy and drill back up
again.

Next unit: Use advanced interactions and drill through

Continue
Use advanced interactions and drill
through
Completed100 XP
 7 minutes

To ensure that you have full control over the behavior of your report and can
determine the expected user experience, you can edit the default interactions and
use the drillthrough features.

Edit interactions
You can use visual interaction controls to customize how the visualizations on your
report page impact each other, in other words, filter and highlight each other.

For example, when you select an item in a visual, the other visuals update to display
data for that item; they might be highlighting or filtering the selected data. You can
stop this occurrence from happening, or change a highlight action to a filter action
and vice versa. Therefore, you have the power to determine what data is displayed
for a specific selection that you've made.

To enable the visual interaction controls, select a visualization, go to the Format tab

in the ribbon, and then select Edit interactions.

The Edit interactions button turns grey to show that it's enabled,

and Filter, Highlight, and/or None icons are added to the other visualizations on
the report page. When you hover over an icon, a grey box displays over the related
visual. The icon in bold is the one that is being applied. In the following image, notice
that the donut chart is cross-filtering the card visuals and cross-highlighting the
column chart. You can now change how the selected visualization interacts with the
other visualizations on the report page.

You can now select each visualization on your report page, one at a time, to see how
it interacts with the other visualizations. If you don't like the behavior that you see,
you can change the interactions. These changes are saved with the report, so your
report users will have the same visual interaction experience as you do.

The following example shows how all elements are updated after the Components
category has been selected. You can compare this image to the first image in this
unit, when no category was selected.

To change an interaction of a selected visual, select the required interaction icon.

Remember, the applied interaction is displayed in bold. The following image shows
that:
  The selected interaction is cross-filtered because the Filter icon is
displayed in bold.
 You can change the interaction to cross-highlight by selecting
the Highlight icon.
 You can remove the interaction altogether by selecting the None icon.

Keep in mind that the number of interactions between your visuals will impact the
performance of your report. To optimize the performance of your report, consider
the query reduction options that are available within Power BI Desktop. You have the
option to send fewer queries (which will reduce query chattiness) by disabling cross-
highlighting/filtering by default. You can also disable certain interactions that would
result in a poor experience, if the resulting queries take a long time to run.

You can access the query reduction settings by selecting **File > Options and
settings > Options, then scrolling down and selecting the Query reduction option.
Drill through
You can use the Drill through feature to create a page in your report that focuses on
a specific entity, such as a product, category, or region. You can then access this
page when you drill through from the related visuals that are on other pages in your
report. The information that displays on the drillthrough page will be specific to the
item that you select on the visual, as illustrated in the following image.
In this example, you will create a drillthrough for the product category entity. You
can start by creating a page in your report and rename it to Details Page. On that
page, you will add a visual for the entity that you want to provide the drillthrough for
(a table that displays data for the Category, SubCategory, Country, Gross Sales,
and Net Sales fields).

Then, from the Values section of the Visualizations pane, drag the field (Category

Name) for which you want to enable drillthrough in the Drill through filters well.
Ensure that the Keep all filters option is set to ON, so when you drill through from a
visual, the same filters will be applied on the Details page.

Power BI Desktop automatically creates a Back button visual on the page for you.
This button is for navigation purposes, so your report users can return to the report
page from which they came. You can reposition and resize this button on the report
page or replace it with your own type of button.

To use drillthrough, right-click a data point on a visual in another report page,

select Drill through, and then select the focused page (Details page) to get details
that are filtered to that context.
Cross-report drillthrough
The Cross-report drillthrough feature allows you to contextually jump from one
report to another report in the same Power BI service workspace or app. This feature
allows you to connect two or more reports that have related content. You can also
pass filter context along with that cross-report connection.

For example, you can select a data point on a visual in one report, then drill through
to related, detailed information that is in another report.
To enable Cross-report drillthrough, you first need to validate the data models for
the source and target reports. Though the schemas in each report don't have to be
the same, both data models must contain the fields that you want to pass. Also, the
names of those fields, and the names of the tables that they belong to, must be
identical. The strings must match and are case-sensitive. If they are not identical, you
must update the field name or table name in the underlying model.

When you have validated your data models, you need to enable the Cross-report
drillthrough feature in Power BI Desktop. Go to File > Options and settings >
Options, then scroll down the Current File settings and select Report settings. In
the Cross-report drillthrough section, select the check box for Allow visuals in this
report to use drillthrough targets from other reports and then select OK.

 Note
The Cross-report drillthrough feature can also be enabled/disabled in the Report
settings in Power BI service.

Next, you will set up a target page for the cross-report drillthrough in the same way
that you would set up a page for a drillthrough within a report in the previous
section. The other visuals will target that page for drillthrough.

When you have set up the target page, go to the Drillthrough section of

the Visualizations pane and set the Cross-report option to the On position. Then,
drag the fields that you want to use as drillthrough targets into the Drill
through filters well. For each field, select whether you want to allow drillthrough
when the field is used as a category or when it's summarized like a measure.

Select whether you want the Keep all filters option On or Off for the visual. If you
don't want to pass filters that are applied to the source visual to your target visual,
select Off.

Similar to when you create a drillthrough for a single report, Power BI Desktop
automatically adds a Back button to the target drillthrough page. However, in this
case, you should delete the Back button because it only works for navigation within
a report.

When you save and publish your changes, you can use the Cross-report
drillthrough feature. Select the source report in the Power BI service, and then select
a visual that uses the Drill through field in the way that you specified when you set
up the target page. Right-click a data point on the visual, select Drill through, and
then select the drillthrough target. Notice that the Cross-report drillthrough targets
are formatted as Page name [Report name].

Next unit: Configure conditional formatting

Configure conditional formatting

Completed100 XP
 2 minutes

Conditional formatting in Power BI Desktop allows you to specify customized cell colors,
including color gradients, that are based on field values. Additionally, you can use
conditional formatting to represent cell values with data bars, KPI icons, or active web links.

You might want to use conditional formatting to highlight or differentiate the data that is
displayed in your visual. This approach will help you and other users see key data insights
easily.

For example, you could set up conditional formatting for your sales figures. If the sales
amount falls below zero, you could display this value in red, a color that is associated with
danger, so that users will see it clearly and know that they need to take immediate action.
Conversely, you could set a value for your sales target, displaying amounts over that target
amount in a green color to signify that the target is met and all is going well.

The following example shows conditional formatting being used in two

visuals, Table and Matrix, where it is possible to set different conditions on a column. You
can apply conditional formatting to any text or data field, but the formatting needs to be
based on a field that has numeric, color name or hex code, or web URL values.

In this example, you will select the table visualization and then, in the Format pane, expand
the Conditional formatting section. Turn on the Background color option, and then select
the Advanced controls option. In the window that displays, set a condition to change
background color to red for cells that have low values and green for cells with high values.
The Power BI conditional formatting function will automatically detect the highest and the
lowest number in each column and will apply background coloring according to the values.

If you want to remove the conditional formatting that you set, select the Values tab on
the Visualizations pane and right-click the value (field) that you set the formatting for.
Select Remove conditional formatting and then select the type of formatting that you want
to remove, for example All or Background color.
Next unit: Apply slicing, filtering, and sorting
Continue

Apply slicing, filtering, and sorting

Completed100 XP
 6 minutes

Power BI Desktop provides three tools that you can use to edit and configure
interactions between the visualizations that you add to your report: slicers, filters, and
sorting.

The process of filtering allows you to remove all the data that you don't need, so you
can focus on the data that you do need. You can apply filtering directly by using
the Filters pane or by adding and using a slicer. Slicers and filters are similar; both let
you filter out the unnecessary data. Experiment with both options to see which one is
the best mechanism for your report situation. You might decide to use one option
over the other or use a combination of both.
Contrary to filtering, the process of sorting allows you to highlight the important
information without removing any of the data.

Add a slicer
A slicer is a type of filter that you can add to your report, so users can segment the
data in the report by a specific value, such as by year or geographical location. Slicers
narrow the portion of the dataset that is shown in the other report visualizations.

You can use a slicer to:

 Provide quicker access to commonly used or important filters.

 Simplify a user's ability to see the current filtered state without having to
open a drop-down list.
 Filter by columns that are unneeded and hidden in the data tables.
 Create more focused reports (by putting slicers next to important
visuals).
 Defer queries to the data model by using a drop-down slicer, particularly
when you are using DirectQuery.

Slicers are not supported for input fields and drilldown functions.

When you add a slicer, you can change it to populate a list of items that you want to
use to filter the elements of your page. You can make that list appear in a drop-down
format if you want to save space for more important data on your report page.
Rather than using a list format, you can turn your slicer into buttons to make it easier
for users to filter data. Also, you can use your slicer with date type columns, so you
can select a different data range by using the slider.

To apply a slicer, select the Slicer icon in the Visualizations pane. Then, in

the Fields pane, select the fields that you want to include in the slicer or drag them
into the slicer visualization.

The visualization then changes to a list of items (filters) with check boxes that you
can use to segment the data. When you select an item's check box, Power BI will filter
(slice) all the other visualizations on the same report page, as illustrated in the
following image.
You can add as many slicers as you want to a report page. If you use a list type of
slicer, you can configure the selection controls. Select the slicer and then, in
the Format pane, expand the Selection controls section to view the following
options:

 Single select - This option is Off by default. It ensures that only one
item can be selected at a time.
 Multi-select with CTRL - This option is On by default. It allows you to
select multiple items by pressing the Ctrl key.
 Show "Select all" - This option is Off by default. If you turn on this
option, a Select all check box is added to the slicer. You might want to
add this option so that you can quickly select or clear all items in the list.
If you select all items, selecting an item will clear it, allowing an is-
not type of filter.

While slicers are useful, if you want to filter your data in a basic way, you don't need
to add slicers to your report. Power BI Desktop has a Filters pane that can handle the
basic slicer operations. Therefore, depending on your requirements, you might save
time and effort by avoiding the use of slicers and using the Filters pane instead. By
using this pane, you can reduce the total number of visuals on a report, which will
improve performance.
Customize filters
From the report user's perspective, the Filters pane contains filters that you, the
report designer, have added to the report. The filters allow users to interact with the
visuals at the report, page, and visual level.

As a report designer, you can customize the Filters pane in Power BI Desktop as

follows:

 Add and remove fields to filter on.

 Change the filter state.
 Format and customize the Filters pane so that it seems part of your
report.
  Define whether the Filters pane is open or collapsed by default when a
consumer opens the report.
 Hide the entire Filters pane or specific filters that you don't want report
consumers to see.
 Control and bookmark the visibility, open, and collapsed state of
the Filters pane.
 Lock filters that you don't want consumers to edit.

You can expand and collapse the Filters pane so that you can hide it when you do
not need it. When you expand the Filters pane, depending on the item in the report
that you have selected, you will see the following sections:

 Filters on this visual - Filters that apply to the selected visual and
nothing else. This section only displays if you have a visual selected.
 Filters on this page - Filters that apply to the whole page that you
currently have open.
 Filters on all pages - Filters that apply to all the pages in your report.
 Drillthrough - Filters that apply to a single entity in a report.
To apply a filter, drag and drop a field from the Fields pane into the relevant section
of the Filter pane.

Sort data
You can sort the data that is displayed in your visuals so it's displayed to your
specifications.

Sorting helps you display the most important data in the most logical way, such as in
alphabetical or numeric order. This basic feature can help when you are making
significant business decisions. For example, if you display products with the highest
sales first, you are helping users see which product is the most popular among the
customer base. Similarly, the products with low sales can be discontinued or replaced
with new products to help increase revenue.

To sort a visual, start by selecting the More options... button in the upper-right

corner of the visual, where you will have three sorting options:
  Sort descending - Sorts the visual by the selected column in the order
of greatest value to smallest value.
 Sort ascending - Sorts the visual by the selected column in the order of
smallest value to greatest value.
 Sort by - Sorts the data by a specific column. Hover over this option to
display the list of columns that you can select from.

Next unit: Publish and export reports

Publish and export reports

Completed100 XP
 2 minutes

When you are finished designing your report, you can publish it to your workspace in Power
BI Service. You also have options to export to Microsoft Excel.

Publish reports
When you publish a report, Power BI Desktop packages your report and data, including all
your visualizations, queries, and custom measures, and then uploads them to Power BI
service.

To publish your report, select the Publish button on the Home tab.

You might be prompted to save your changes, in which case, select Save and then proceed to
save your Power BI (.pbix) file.

You might also be required to sign in to Power BI. If so, enter your sign-in credentials to
continue.

In the Publish to Power BI window, select the destination in which you want to publish the
report. For example, you can publish to a workspace within Power BI. For production reports,
we recommend that you publish to an app workspace.

When the report is successfully published, you'll get a success message that contains a link to
your report in your Power BI site. Select Got it to close the Publishing to BI window and
return to your report in Power BI Desktop. From the report page, you can select the provided
URL to go to Power BI service and see your new report.

Export reports
Power BI allows you to export visual data, reports, and datasets. You can export to several
different formats including CSV, Excel, and PDF.

Next unit: Comment on reports

Continue

Comment on reports
Completed100 XP
 1 minute

When you publish your report to Power BI web service, the consumers of your report can add
comments to it. Comments can be useful for personal comments or for starting a conversation
about a report item with your colleagues. For example, users can comment on pages or
visuals that they are experiencing issues with, or they could give you suggestions for changes
or improvements.

Comments are also available for paginated reports, dashboards, and visuals. Anyone with the
right permissions can see those comments. When you add a comment to a specific visual
rather than the report as a whole, the context of the comment is clearer and acts like a
personal bookmark.

To add or view comments on a report, open the report in Power BI web service. In the upper-
right corner, select Comments. In the Comments pane, you can view existing comments and
write your own comments, and then select Post Comment.
To add a comment from a visual, select the visual in the report to open it in focus mode.
Select Comments from the top menu and enter your comment in the Comments pane that
displays.
Next unit: Tune report performance
Continue

Tune report performance

Completed100 XP
 4 minutes

When you have finished creating your report, the performance of that report depends on how
quickly data can load onto the report page. You should test your report in the Power BI
Report Server to see how it works from a user's perspective. If you experience issues, or if the
report users have reported issues, you need to investigate the cause of those issues and take
measures to tune the report for more optimized performance.

Analyze performance
To investigate the cause of issues, your first step is to use the Performance analyzer tool
within Power BI Desktop. Performance analyzer allows you to discover how each of your
report elements, such as visuals and DAX formulas, are performing. Performance
analyzer provides you with logs that measure (in time duration) how each of your report
elements performs when users interact with them. By examining the durations in the logs,
you can identify which elements of the report are the most (or least) resource intensive. You
can find where bottlenecks exist, which is a good starting point for making changes.

Before you run Performance analyzer, ensure that you clear the visual cache and data
engine cache; otherwise, the results will not be accurate. Also, you should set up the report so
that it opens on a blank page.

When you have cleared the caches and opened the report on the blank page, to run
the Performance analyzer, go to the View tab, select Performance analyzer, and then
select Start recording.
Interact with your report as you would expect a user to, and then stop the recording. The
results of your interactions will display in the Performance analyzer pane as you work.
When you are finished, select the Stop button. Then, you can analyze the results in
the Performance analyzer pane. Performance results of each item in the report will display,
in milliseconds, under the Duration column. The following image shows that all items on the
report take less than two seconds to load, which is acceptable. You can expand an item in the
list to view more detailed information and identify the exact cause of the issue, such as the
DAX query, the visual display, or something else (other).
If you want to examine the DAX query, select Copy query and then paste it into DAX Studio
for further analysis. DAX Studio is a free, open-source tool that is provided by another source
that you can download and install on your computer.

Tune performance
The results of your analysis will identify areas for improvement and highlight items that you
need to optimize.

A common reason for poor performance is too many visuals on the same page. The following
image shows an example of a busy page that contains several visuals.
If you identify visuals as the bottleneck that has caused poor performance, take the following
measures to tune the report:

 Reduce the number of visuals on the report page because fewer visuals means
better performance. If a visual is not necessary and doesn't add value to the user,
you should remove it. Rather than using multiple visuals on the page, consider
other ways to provide additional details, such as drillthrough pages and report
page tooltips.
 Reduce the number of fields in each visual. The upper limit for visuals is 100
fields, so a visual with more than 100 fields will be slow to load (and will look
cluttered and confusing). Identify fields that are not valuable to the visual and
then remove them.

If you find that visuals are not causing the performance issues, you should assess the DAX
query results that are displayed in the Performance analyzer pane and investigate those
results further. For example, you might need to look elsewhere in your data model, such as
the relationships and columns.

In circumstances where you have made necessary changes to tune report performance and
have established that the report is performing well, but some users are still experiencing poor
performance, other factors might be affecting performance. These factors include the
bandwidth, server, firewall, and other external, uncontrollable factors. You might need to
speak to the IT team in your organization to see if they can explain why users are
experiencing poor performance when using your reports.

Next unit: Optimize reports for mobile use

Continue
Optimize reports for mobile use
Completed100 XP
 3 minutes

Some of your report users will want to view your report on their mobile phone or
tablet. While they can view any Power BI report page in landscape orientation, you
might want to create an additional view that is optimized for mobile devices and
displays in portrait orientation. Power BI gives you the power to use visuals that
make sense for mobile users and rearrange those visuals in the most effective way.

When you have finished creating your report for the regular web view, you can then
change the report so that it's optimized for use on phones and tablets.

To create a mobile-optimized version of your report, you can:

 Design a mobile layout view, where you can drag and drop certain
visuals onto a phone emulator canvas.
  Use visuals and slicers that are suitable for use on small, mobile screens.

To publish a mobile-optimized version of your report, you can publish the main
report as you did previously. The web and mobile versions are published at the same
time.

Design a mobile report layout

To design the mobile-optimized view of a report page, start by opening the mobile
layout view for that page. In Power BI Desktop, open the specific report page, select
the View tab, and then select Mobile layout.

This selection will result in showing a scrollable canvas that is shaped like a phone
and a Visualizations pane that lists all visuals on the original report page. Each visual
appears with its name, for easy identification, and a visibility indicator that is useful
when you are working with bookmarks. The visibility indicator of a visual will change
depending on the visibility status of the visual in the current state of the web report
view.

To add a visual to the mobile layout canvas, drag the visual from
the Visualizations pane to the phone canvas, or double-click the visual in
the Visualization pane. You can then resize and reposition the visual in the same
way that you would a report page. Repeat these steps to add other visuals to the
mobile layout canvas.

Configure visuals and slicers for use in mobile

reports
By default, many visuals in Power BI are responsive, which means that they change
dynamically to display the maximum amount of data and insight, regardless of the
screen size. As a visual changes size, Power BI gives priority to the data and makes
small changes, such as removing padding or repositioning the legend, so that the
data remains visible. When it comes to configuring visuals for mobile reports, Power
BI does all the hard work for you. However, if you want to turn off this default
responsiveness, you can do so in the General section of the visual's format settings.
Regarding slicers, which offer on-canvas filtering of report data, you might want to
modify some settings to optimize them for mobile use. Return to the regular report
authoring mode to edit the slicer settings, and then consider the following points:

 Determine whether you want to allow report readers to select only one
item or multiple items.
 Decide on the orientation of the slicer, whether it should be vertical,
horizontal, or responsive (responsive slicers must be horizontal). If you
make the slicer responsive, as you change its size and shape, it shows
more or fewer options. If you make the slicer small enough, it becomes a
filter icon on the report page.

Next unit: Lab - Enhance Power BI reports with

slicers, interaction, and formatting

Lab - Enhance Power BI reports with

slicers, interaction, and formatting
Completed100 XP

 45 minutes
This unit includes a lab to complete.

Use the free resources provided in the lab to complete the exercises in this unit. You
will not be charged.
Microsoft provides this lab experience and related content for educational purposes.
All presented information is owned by Microsoft and intended solely for learning
about the covered products and services in this Microsoft Learn module.

Launch lab

Access your environment

Before you start this lab (unless you are continuing from a previous lab),
select Launch lab above.

You are automatically logged in to your lab environment as data-ai\student.

You can now begin your work on this lab.

 Tip

To dock the lab environment so that it fills the window, select the PC icon at the top
and then select Fit Window to Machine.

In this lab, you will enhance the Sales Report with advanced design features. You
will:

 Sync slicers

 Create a drillthrough page

 Apply conditional formatting

  Create and use bookmarks

Configure sync slicers

In this exercise, you will sync the report page slicers.

 Important

This exercise will require you to login to Power BI, you will use your existing account
you created before starting this lab.

Sync slicers

In this task, you will sync the Year and Region slicers.

1. In Power BI Desktop, navigate to D:\DA100\L08-design-report-in-

power-bi-desktop-enhanced\Starter folder, and open Sales
Report.pbix file.

2. You will be prompted to login to Power BI, login using Power BI account
credentials.

3. You may get an error "Unable to connect," the account is utilized by

many learners. Click on Edit and select the Sales Analysis report you
created in an earlier lab.

4. On the Sales Report file, on the Overview page, set the Year slicer

to FY2018.

5. Go to the My Performance page, and then notice that the Year slicer is

a different value.

When slicers aren't synced, it can contribute to misrepresentation of data

and frustration for report users. You'll now sync the report slicers.

6. Go to the Overview page, and then select the Year slicer.

7. On the View ribbon tab, from inside the Show Panes group,

click Sync Slicers.
 8. In the Sync Slicers pane (at the left of the Visualizations pane), in the
second column (which represents syncing), check the checkboxes for
the Overview and My Performance pages.

9. On the Overview page, select the Region slicer.

10. Sync the slicer with the Overview and Profit pages.

11. Test the sync slicers by selecting different filter options, and then
verifying that the synced slicers filter by the same options.

12. To close the Sync Slicer page, click the X located at the top-right of the

pane.

Configure drill through

In this exercise, you will create a new page and configure it as a drill through page.
When you've completed the design, the page will look like the following:
Create a drill through page

In this task, you will create a new page and configure it as a drill through page.

1. Add a new report page named Product Details.

2. Right-click the Product Details page tab, and then select Hide Page.

Report users won't be able to go to the drill through page directly.

They'll need to access it from visuals on other pages. You'll learn how to
drill through to the page in the final exercise of this lab.

3. Beneath the Visualizations pane, in the Drill Through section, add

the Product | Category field to the Add Drill-Through Fields Here box.
4. To test the drill through page, in the drill through filter card, select Bikes.

5. At the top-left of the report page, notice the arrow button.

The button was added automatically. It allows report users to navigate

back to the page from which they drilled through.

6. Add a Card visual to the page, and then resize and reposition it so it sits
to the right of the button and fills the remaining width of the page.
7. Drag the Product | Category field into the card visual.

8. Configure the format options for the visual, and then turn
the Category Label property to Off.

9. Set the Background Color property to a light shade of gray.

10. Add a Table visual to the page, and then resize and reposition it so it sits
beneath the card visual and fills the remaining space on the page.
 11. Add the following fields to the visual:

o Product | Subcategory

o Product | Color

o Sales | Quantity

o Sales | Sales

o Sales | Profit Margin

12. Configure the format options for the visual, and in the Grid section, set
the Text Size property to 20pt.

The design of the drill through page is almost complete. In the next
exercise, you'll define conditional formatting.

Add conditional formatting

In this exercise, you will enhance the drill through page with conditional formatting.
When you've completed the design, the page will look like the following:
Add conditional formatting

In this task, you will enhance the drill through page with conditional formatting.

1. Select the table visual.

2. In the visual fields pane, for the Profit Margin field, click the down-

arrow, and then select Conditional Formatting | Icons.
3. In the Icons -- Profit Margin window, in the Icon Layout dropdown list,
select Right of Data.

4. To delete the middle rule, at the left of the yellow triangle, click X.
5. Configure the first rule (red diamond) as follows:

o In the second control, remove the value

o In the third control, select Number

o In the fifth control, enter 0

o In the sixth control, select Number

6. Configure the second rule (green circle) as follows:

o In the second control, enter 0

o In the third control, select Number

o In the fifth control, remove the value

o In the sixth control, select Number

The rules are as follows: display a red diamond if the profit margin value
is less than 0; otherwise if the value is great or equal to zero, display the
green circle.

7. Click OK.

8. In the table visual, verify that the that the correct icons are displayed.
9. Configure background color conditional formatting for the Color field.

10. In the Background Color -- Color window, in the Format By dropdown

list, select Field Value.

11. In the Based on Field dropdown list,

select Product | Formatting | Background Color Format.
 12. Click OK.

13. Repeat the previous steps to configure font color conditional formatting
for the Color field, using
the Product | Formatting | Font Color Format field.

The background and font colors are sourced from the ColorFormats.csv file in Data
folder.

Add bookmarks and buttons

In this exercise, you will enhance the My Performance page with buttons, allowing
the report user to select the visual type to display. When you've completed the
design, the page will look like the following:
Add bookmarks

In this task, you will add two bookmarks, one to display each of the monthly
sales/targets visuals.

1. Go to the My Performance page.

2. On the View ribbon tab, from inside the Show Panes group,

click Bookmarks.

3. On the View ribbon tab, from inside the Show Panes group,

click Selection.

4. In the Selection pane, beside one of

the Sales and Target by Month items, to hide the visual, click the eye
icon.
5. In the Bookmarks pane, click Add.

6. To rename the bookmark, double-click the bookmark.

7. If the visible chart is the bar chart, rename the bookmark

as Bar Chart ON, otherwise rename the bookmark
as Column Chart ON.

8. In the Selection pane, toggle the visibility of the

two Sales and Target by Month items.

In other words, make the visible visual hidden, and make the hidden
visual visible.

9. Create a second bookmark, and name it appropriately

(either Column Chart ON or Bar Chart ON).

10. In the Selection pane, to make both visuals visible, simple show the

hidden visual.
 11. Resize and reposition both visuals so they fill the page beneath the
multi-card visual, and completely overlap one another.

 Tip

To select the visual that is covered up, select it in the Selection pane.

12. In the Bookmarks pane, select each of the bookmarks, and notice that

only one of the visuals is visible.

The next stage of design is to add two buttons to the page, which will allow the
report user to select the bookmarks.

Add buttons

In this task, you will add two buttons, and assign bookmark actions to each.

1. On the Insert ribbon, from inside the Elements group, click Button, and

then select Blank.
2. Reposition the button directly beneath the Year slicer.

3. Select the button, and the in the Visualizations pane, turn

the Button Text property to On.

4. Expand the Button Text section, and then in the Button Text box,

enter Bar Chart.

5. Format the background color, using a suitable color.

6. Turn the Action property to On (located near the bottom of the list).

7. Expand the Action section, and then set the Type dropdown list

to Bookmark.

8. In the Bookmark dropdown list, select Bar Chart ON.

9. Create a copy of the button by using copy and paste, and then configure
the new button as follows:

o Set the Button Text property to Column Chart

o In the Action section, set the Bookmark dropdown list

to Column Chart ON
Publish the report

In this task, you will publish the report.

1. Select the Overview page.

2. In the Year slicer, select FY2020.

3. In the Region slicer, select Select All.

4. Save the Power BI Desktop file.

5. Publish the report to your Sales Analysis workspace.

6. When prompted to replace the report, click Replace.

7. Leave Power BI Desktop open.

In the next exercise, you will explore the report in Power BI service.

Explore the report

In this exercise, you will explore the Sales Report in Power BI service.

 Note

The exercise will require you to login to Power BI, you will use your existing account
to login before starting the lab.

Explore the report

In this task, you will explore the Sales Report in Power BI service.

1. In the Edge, in the Power BI service, open the Sales Report report.

2. To test the drill through report, in the Quantity by Category visual,

right-click the Clothing bar, and then
select Drill Through | Product Details.
 3. Notice that the Product Details page is for Clothing.

4. To return to the source page, at the top-left corner, click the arrow
button.

5. Select the My Performance page.

6. Click each of the buttons, and then notice that a different visual is
displayed.

Finish up

In this task, you will complete the lab.

1. To return to the workspace, in the breadcrumb trail, click your workspace

name.

2. Leave the Edge browser window open.

3. In Power BI Desktop, go to the My Performance page, and in

the Filters pane, remove the Salesperson filter card.

4. Select the Overview page.

5. Save the Power BI Desktop file, and then republish to the workspace.

6. Close Power BI Desktop.
Next unit: Check your knowledge

Check your knowledge

200 XP
 3 minutes

Answer the following questions to see what you've

learned.
1. 

Which of the following filters are not available in Power BI reports?

Drillthrough

Page type

Report level

Page level
2. 

How can you analyze performance of each of your report elements?

By analyzing your metadata

By using performance analyzer

By deleting unnecessary rows and columns to reduce your dataset size

3. 

Can you use bookmarks to create a slide show in Power BI?

No, you cannot, because bookmarks are not dynamic.

Yes, you can, by adding buttons as navigation to go between saved bookmarks.

No, you will require a specific visual to achieve this task.

Summary
Completed100 XP
 2 minutes

Power BI Desktop report editor provides the tools that you need to create a concise,
well-designed report that displays information in a compelling and user-friendly,
accessible way. Along with creating this well-designed report, in this module, you
were tasked with enhancing the range of visuals on your report to offer more user
interaction and detailed information.

You started by considering the best position and size of your visuals and designed
the report layout with user accessibility in mind. Next, you applied a selection of
buttons, bookmarks, filters, and other elements to make the report more visually
pleasing, interactive, and easier to navigate. You then considered the interactions of
the visuals in your report and made some changes. You added a variety of slicing,
filtering, and sorting techniques to your data so that users could find the information
that they needed, at both a high and low detail level. At that stage, you published the
report to Power BI Report Server so that it could be accessed by all users. Your next
task was to check the performance of your report and make changes to fine-tune the
report for optimal performance. Finally, you designed and published a mobile version
of your report.

If you couldn't use Power BI Desktop to produce reports, you would still be able to
analyze the data, but you wouldn't be able to communicate your findings. Power BI
Desktop does more than enable you to communicate the data; it allows you to
design a range of compelling, powerful reports that can be used for telling data-
driven stories and helping with decision making at all organizational levels.

Now that you have published your report, your managers have access to up-to-date
data that can help them make more robust plans and accurate forecasts, ultimately
helping them to make better business decisions.

Module incomplete:
Design a Report in Power BI Desktop, Part 2

The estimated time to complete the lab is 45 minutes

In this lab you will enhance the Sales Analysis with advanced design features.
In this lab you learn how to:

 Sync slicers
 Create a drillthrough page
 Apply conditional formatting
 Create and use bookmarks

Lab story

This lab is one of many in a series of labs that was designed as a complete story from data
preparation to publication as reports and dashboards. You can complete the labs in any order.
However, if you intend to work through multiple labs, for the first 10 labs, we suggest you do
them in the following order:

1. Prepare Data in Power BI Desktop

2. Load Data in Power BI Desktop
3. Model Data in Power BI Desktop, Part 1
4. Model Data in Power BI Desktop, Part 2
5. Create DAX Calculations in Power BI Desktop, Part 1
6. Create DAX Calculations in Power BI Desktop, Part 2
7. Design a Report in Power BI Desktop, Part 1
8. Design a Report in Power BI Desktop, Part 2
9. Create a Power BI Dashboard
10. Create a Power BI Paginated Report
11. Perform Data Analysis in Power BI Desktop
12. Enforce Row-Level Security

Exercise 1: Configure Sync Slicers

In this exercise you will sync the report page slicers.

Task 1: Get started – Sign in

In this task you will setup the environment for the lab by signing in to Power BI.

Important: If you have already signed in to Power BI, continue from the next task.

1. To open Microsoft Edge, on the taskbar, click the Microsoft Edge program shortcut.

2. In the Microsoft Edge browser window, navigate to https://powerbi.com.

Tip: You can also use the Power BI Service favorite on the Microsoft Edge favorites
bar.

3. Click Sign In (located at the top-right corner).

 4. Enter the account details provided to you.
5. If prompted to update the password, reenter the provided password, and then enter
and confirm a new password.

Important: Be sure to record your new password.

6. Complete the sign in process.

7. If prompted by Microsoft Edge to stay signed in, click Yes.
8. In the Microsoft Edge browser window, in the Power BI service, in
the Navigation pane, expand My Workspace.

9. Leave the Microsoft Edge browser window open.

Task 2: Get started – Open report

In this task you will setup the environment for the lab by opening the starter report.

Important: If you are continuing on from the previous lab (and you completed that lab
successfully), do not complete this task; instead, continue from the next task.

1. To open the Power BI Desktop, on the taskbar, click the Microsoft Power BI Desktop
shortcut.

2. To close the getting started window, at the top-left of the window, click X.

3. To sign in to the Power BI service, at the top-right, click Sign In.

4. Complete the sign in process using the same account used to sign in to the Power BI
service.
5. To open the starter Power BI Desktop file, click the File ribbon tab to open the
backstage view.
6. Select Open Report.

7. Click Browse Reports.

8. In the Open window, navigate to the D:\DA100\Labs\08-design-report-in-power-

bi-desktop-enhanced\Starter folder.
9. Select the Sales Analysis file.
10. Click Open.

11. Close any informational windows that may open.

12. To create a copy of the file, click the File ribbon tab to open the backstage view.
13. Select Save As.
 14. If prompted to apply changes, click Apply.

15. In the Save As window, navigate to the D:\DA100\MySolution folder.

16. Click Save.

Task 3: Sync slicers

In this task you will sync the Year and Region slicers.

You will continue the development of the report created in the Design a Report in Power BI
Desktop, Part 1 lab.

1. In Power BI Desktop, on the Overview page, set the Year slicer to FY2018.

2. Go to the My Performance page, and then notice that the Year slicer is a different
value.

When slicers aren’t synced it can contribute to misrepresentation of data and

frustration for report users. You’ll now sync the report slicers.

3. Return to the Overview page, and then select the Year slicer.

4. On the View ribbon tab, from inside the Show Panes group, click Sync Slicers.
 5. In the Sync Slicers pane (at the left of the Visualizations pane), in the second column
(which represents syncing), check the checkboxes for the Overview and My
Performance pages.

6. On the Overview page, select the Region slicer.

7. Sync the slicer with the Overview and Profit pages.

8. Test the sync slicers by selecting different filter options, and then verifying that the
synced slicers filter by the same selection.
9. To close the Sync Slicer page, click the X located at the top-right of the pane.

Exercise 2: Configure Drill Through

In this exercise you will create a new page and configure it as a drill through page. When
you’ve completed the design, the page will look like the following:
Task 1: Create a drill through page

In this task you will create a new page and configure it as a drill through page.

1. Add a new report page named Product Details.

2. Right-click the Product Details page tab, and then select Hide Page.

Report users won’t be able to go to the drill through page directly. They’ll need to
access it from visuals on other pages. You’ll learn how to drill through to the page in
the final exercise of this lab.

3. Beneath the Visualizations pane, in the Drill Through section, add the Product |

Category field to the Add Drill-Through Fields Here box.

The labs use a shorthand notation to reference a field. It will look like this: Product |
Category. In this example, Product is the table name and Category is the field name.
4. To test the drill through page, in the drill through filter card, select Bikes.

5. At the top-left of the report page, notice the arrow button.

A button is added automatically when a field is added to the drill through well/area.
It allows report users to navigate back to the page from which they drilled through.

6. Add a Card visual to the page, and then resize and position it so it sits to the right of
the button and fills the remaining width of the page.
7. Drag the Product | Category field into the card visual.
8. Configure the format options for the visual, and then turn the Category
Label property to Off.

9. Set the Background Color property to a light shade of gray.

10. Add a Table visual to the page, and then resize and position it so it sits beneath the
card visual and fills the remaining space on the page.
 11. Add the following fields to the visual:
o Product | Subcategory
o Product | Color
o Sales | Quantity
o Sales | Sales
o Sales | Profit Margin
12. Configure the format options for the visual, and in the Grid section, set the Text
Size property to 20pt.

The design of the drill through page is almost complete. You’ll enhance the page with
conditional formatting in the next exercise.

Exercise 3: Add Conditional Formatting

In this exercise you will enhance the drill through page with conditional formatting. When
you’ve completed the design, the page will look like the following:
Task 1: Add conditional formatting

In this task you will enhance the drill through page with conditional formatting.

1. Select the table visual.

2. In the visualization pane, click the down-arrow on the Profit Margin value, and then
select Conditional Formatting | Icons.

3. In the Icons – Profit Margin window, in the Icon Layout dropdown list,

select Right of Data.

4. To delete the middle rule, at the left of the yellow triangle, click X.
5. Configure the first rule (red diamond) as follows:
o In the second control, remove the value
o In the third control, select Number
o In the fifth control, enter 0
o In the sixth control, select Number
6. Configure the second rule (green circle) as follows:
o In the second control, enter 0
o In the third control, select Number
o In the fifth control, remove the value
o In the sixth control, select Number

The rules can be interpreted as follows: display a red diamond if the profit margin
value is less than 0; otherwise if the value is great or equal to zero, display a green
circle.

7. Click OK.

8. In the table visual, verify that the that the correct icons are displayed.
9. Configure background color conditional formatting for the Color field.
10. In the Background Color – Color window, in the Format By dropdown list,
select Field Value.

11. In the Based on Field dropdown list, select Product | Formatting | Background

Color Format.
 12. Click OK.

13. Repeat the previous steps to configure font color conditional formatting for
the Color field, using the Product | Formatting | Font Color Format field

You may recall that the background and font colors were source from
the ColorFormats.csv  file in the Prepare Data in Power BI Desktop lab, and then
integrated with the Product query in the Load Data in Power BI Desktop lab.

Exercise 4: Add Bookmarks and Buttons

In this exercise you will enhance the My Performance page with buttons, allowing the report
user to select the visual type to display. When you’ve completed the design, the page will
look like the following:
Task 1: Add bookmarks

In this task you will add two bookmarks, one to display each of the monthly sales/targets
visuals.

1. Go to the My Performance page.
2. On the View ribbon tab, from inside the Show Panes group, click Bookmarks.

3. On the View ribbon tab, from inside the Show Panes group, click Selection.

4. In the Selection pane, beside one of the Sales and Target by Month items, to hide

the visual, click the eye icon.
5. In the Bookmarks pane, click Add.

6. To rename the bookmark, double-click the bookmark.

7. If the visible chart is the bar chart, rename the bookmark as Bar Chart ON, otherwise
rename the bookmark as Column Chart ON.
8. To edit the bookmark, in the Bookmarks pane, hover the cursor over the bookmark,
click the ellipsis, and then select Data.

Disabling the  Data option means the bookmark won’t use the current filter state.
That’s important because otherwise the bookmark would permanently lock in the
filter currently applied by the Year  slicer.
9. To update the bookmark, click the ellipsis again, and then select Update.

In the following steps, you’ll create and configure a second bookmark to show the
second visual.

10. In the Selection pane, toggle the visibility of the two Sales and Target by

Month items.

In other words, make the visible visual hidden, and make the hidden visual visible.

11. Create a second bookmark, and name it appropriately (either Column Chart

ON or Bar Chart ON).

12. Configure the second bookmark to ignore filters (Data option off), and update the
bookmark.
13. In the Selection pane, to make both visuals visible, simply show the hidden visual.
14. Resize and reposition both visuals so they fill the page beneath the multi-card visual,
and completely overlap one another.

Tip: To select the visual that is covered up, select it in the Selection pane.

 15. In the Bookmarks pane, select each of the bookmarks, and notice that only one of the
visuals is visible.

The next stage of design is to add two buttons to the page, which will allow the report
user to select the bookmarks.

Task 2: Add buttons

In this task you will add two buttons, and assign bookmark actions to each.

1. On the Insert ribbon, from inside the Elements group, click Button, and then

select Blank.

2. Position the button directly beneath the Year slicer.

3. Select the button, and then in the Format button pane, turn the Button Text property
to On.

4. Expand the Button Text section, and then in the Button Text box, enter Bar Chart.

5. Expand the Background section, and then set a background color using a
complementary color.
6. Turn the Action property to On (located near the bottom of the list).

7. Expand the Action section, and then set the Type dropdown list to Bookmark.

8. In the Bookmark dropdown list, select Bar Chart ON.

9. Create a copy of the button by using copy and paste, and then configure the new
button as follows:

Tip: The shortcut commands for copy and paste are Ctrl+C followed by  Ctrl+V.

o Set the Button Text property to Column Chart

o In the Action section, set the Bookmark dropdown list to Column Chart ON

The design of the Sales Analysis report is now complete.

Task 3: Publish the report

In this task you will publish the report.

1. Select the Overview page.
2. In the Year slicer, select FY2020.
3. In the Region slicer, select Select All.
4. Save the Power BI Desktop file.

The file must always be saved prior to publishing to the Power BI service.

5. On the Home ribbon tab, from inside the Share group, click Publish.

6. In the Publish to Power BI window, notice that My Workspace is selected.

7. To publish the report, click Select.

8. If prompted to replace the dataset, click Replace.

9. When the publication has succeeded, click Got It.

10. Close Power BI Desktop.

You’ll explore the report in the Power BI service in the next exercise.

Exercise 5: Explore the Report

In this exercise you will explore the report in the Power BI service.

Task 1: Explore the report

In this task you will explore the report in the Power BI service.

1. In the Microsoft Edge browser window, in the Power BI service, in

the Navigation pane, click the Sales Analysis report.
 2. To test the drill through report, in the Overview page, in the Quantity by
Category visual, right-click the Clothing bar, and then select Drill Through |
Product Details.

3. Notice that the Product Details page is for Clothing.

4. To return to the source page, at the top-left corner of the page, click the arrow button.
5. Select the My Performance page.
6. Click each of the buttons, and then notice that a different visual is displayed.

Task 2: Finish up

In this task you will complete the lab.

1. To return to your workspace, in the banner across the window web page, click My
Workspace.

2. Leave the Microsoft Edge browser window open.

Congratulations!

You have successfully completed this Module, to mark the lab as complete click End.