Alex Kolokolov and Maxim Zelensky say that there are three types of vizzer—business analyst, infographic creator, and data journalist. Are you clear about which you are? They are. And the ideal reader will be an analyst, for this is a complete guide to Power BI.
Never made a dashboard? I hadn’t. But should I want to work anywhere other than journalism, I need to know how. The 2023 DVS State of the Data Viz Industry Survey revealed that, combined, Tableau, Power BI and Excel are the most used tools in the data visualization community.
As the ideal guinea pig for this manual on BI, I set out to recreate the graphics. I parked my hesitation around business phrases like “key performance indicators,” downloaded the data from GitHub, and went for it.
My challenge: could I create stuff without having to ask Google for backup? Straight up, I’ll say that it can be done just by following the first part of the book. There are plenty of pictures—very helpful for navigating menus. Despite the familiar Microsoft layout, it’s always helpful to see a big red circle around the thing you need.
Health warning! While I created charts that looked like those in the book, the numbers did not come out the same. The authors have reassured me that this is due to the raw data pre-dating the final copy.
The book is a dipper—regardless of whether your chart choice is classic, trusted or ‘risky’. Maps and bubbles were covered early, and their inclusion was a nice surprise.
The writing and tone are friendly and not too technical. My heart sank slightly when I found the examples based around sales, but that’s OK; we’re doing minimalist business graphics, after all.
I was showered with advice on customising defaults, which you’ll want to consider. BI’s auto-generated titles are unashamedly dull. And in the time-poor field of business, it is so true that ‘everything should be clear at first glance.’
The biggest concept I took away is that ‘dashboards are not just tools for data discovery; they are also for facilitating communication among people.’ It’s a good reminder for anyone who is normally design-led.
For those who hate Excel charts, back yourself with this book and give BI a try.
The book is available in various formats on the publisher’s website and Amazon.
Clare Harvey
Clare Harvey is a recent postgraduate in Data Journalism from Birmingham City University, UK. She has extensive publishing experience, including editing for Nightingale in 2019-20. She is interested in everything, but especially social issues like public health, transport and eco-living.
