Power BI Dashboard Design Video Course

This course is not a Power BI tutorial. It is focused on visualization principles. This course was recorded in 2017. The visuals may look a little outdated, but the concepts are valid as of today. 

Designing dashboards seems like a simple task, thanks to modern BI tools. In reality, designing dashboards that bring value and that people want to use is not that easy. A good dashboard must follow specific rules and design concepts.

The Power BI Dashboard Design video course:

  • Explains how to design beautiful dashboards that people can use every day.
  • Is a high-level reference guide that you can come back to later. Software updates will not impact the concepts that you learn here.
  • Is not just theory; it shows real examples and comparisons between great dashboards and dashboards that are poorly designed.
  • Can help more people than just the designers! Anyone who creates dashboards can benefit from this course. Designers will learn usability tips that many tend to underestimate.

This course is for day-to-day users of Power BI who do not use DAX but create reports by using the Power BI visuals. It is not a fit for people who have never used Power BI, and it does not expose the underlying technical mechanics of a Power BI dashboard.

The video course is divided in four parts:

  • First, an explanation of what a dashboard actually is…
  • Second, a brief introduction to the features of Power BI, as a reminder for users of the tool;
  • Third and most important, the design concepts. We include 15 rules to design a perfect dashboard;
  • Last, the chart reference. Use it to pick the right charts based on the kind of data you have to display.

The course includes several samples and resources, and additional written material to further explain the topics discussed by the teachers.

Students have access to a private discussion area where they can interact with the instructors asking questions related to the lectures and the exercises.

The content of this training was realized by Daniele Perilli.

 

Power BI Visuals Reference

The last section of the course classifies the visuals available in Power BI. This classification is also displayed in a single PDF that you can download for free. You can print or display this document to support your decision in choosing the right visuals for your dashboards.

Collapse allCurriculum

  • Presentation of Power BI Dashboard Design Course

    • Presentation of Power BI Dashboard Design Course
      FREE
    • Slides of the video course
    • Sample Rules
    • Sample Chart Reference
    • Dashboard design checklist
    • The Visuals Reference
    • The 15 Rules Reference
  • What people think a dashboard is and what it really is

    • What people think a dashboard is and what it really is
      FREE
    • What is a dashboard?
      FREE
    • Examples of bad dashboards
      FREE
    • A good dashboard
    • Recap
      FREE
    • Personal Finance dashboard
  • Introducing Power BI

    • Introducing Power BI
      FREE
    • What is Power BI?
    • Power BI in action
    • Are you starting from scratch?
    • Recap
  • The 15 rules to design a perfect dashboard

    • The 15 rules to design a perfect dashboard
      FREE
    • Introduction to rules
      FREE
  • Design for a target

    • Rule 1 - Design for a target
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • Keep everything at a glance

    • Rule 2 - Keep everything at a glance
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Choosing the right page size
    • Resizing pictures
    • Using charts with hierarchical data
    • Recap
  • Keep it simple

    • Rule 3 - Keep it simple
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
      FREE
    • All art is quite useless
      FREE
    • Avoiding dark backgrounds
      FREE
    • Recap
      FREE
  • Align elements

    • Rule 4 - Align elements
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Prototyping with Chart Placeholder by OKViz
    • Recap
  • Be consistent

    • Rule 5 - Be consistent
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • Highlight the most relevant information

    • Rule 6 - Highlight the most relevant information
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • Be clear

    • Rule 7 - Be clear
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • Start from zero

    • Rule 8 - Start from zero
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Highlighting a change in a time interval
    • Using Dot Plot by OKViz
    • Recap
  • Shorten the numbers

    • Rule 9 - Shorten the numbers
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • Show the context

    • Rule 10 - Show the context
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • Choose the right colors

    • Rule 11 - Choose the right colors
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Using colors that people can confuse
    • Introducing Color Helper by OKViz
    • Recap
  • Design dashboards, not reports

    • Rule 12 - Design dashboards, not reports
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • Show variations

    • Rule 13 - Show variations
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • Leave the noise off

    • Rule 14 - Leave the noise off
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • Pick the right charts

    • Rule 15 - Pick the right charts
      FREE
    • Explanation and demo
    • Recap
  • In conclusion

    • In conclusion
  • The chart reference

    • The chart reference
      FREE
    • Bar/Column charts
    • Bar/Column: express a trend
    • Bar/Column: sorting
    • Bar/Column: clustered vs. stacked
    • Bar/Column: coloring
    • Bar/Column: intervals
    • Gauge
    • Bullet Chart by OKViz
      FREE
    • Dot Plot by OKViz
    • Radar Chart
    • Line Chart
    • Area Chart
    • Sparkline by OKViz
      FREE
    • Candlestick by OKViz
    • KPI
    • Card with States by OKViz
      FREE
    • Treemap
    • Pie/Donut charts
    • Waterfall Chart
    • Funnel
    • Maps
    • Synoptic Panel by OKViz
      FREE
    • Histogram
    • Box & Whisker
    • Scatter Chart
    • Line & Column charts
    • Infographic Designer
    • 3D charts
    • Other charts
    • Custom visuals
Student Rating
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Student Reviews (140)
  • Dan Dinescu (Mar 19, 2024)

    Very nice and interesting course. Also very professional.

  • Steve Sacchetti (Feb 13, 2024)

    It was a very good informative course

  • Thummalacherla Krishnakanth (Sep 10, 2023)

    Just completed the Power Dashboard Design course at SQLBI.com, and it's simply fantastic! Highly recommended for anyone looking to master Power BI and create impactful dashboards. Thanks to Alberto Ferrari & Marc Russo and SQLBI.com team!

  • Stanton Berlinsky (Aug 10, 2023)

    I found the course to be very insightful. It has provided me with a better understanding of how and when to use particular visuals.

  • Lyna Gitonga (Aug 7, 2023)

    I had fun practising this in real time after every lecture. The lectures were quite insightful, clear and precise. Having said this, it would be best (in the future), if a task/project is attached for practise purposes. All in all, this is a good course and I woild recommend it to anyone. - Lyna

  • Nicolas Rojas (Jun 7, 2023)

    El curso da tip interesantes, aplicables al 2023, dando tips por ejemplo de que graficas ocupar y lineamientos vastante extenso a seguir, que se pueden inplementar en graficas. sin embargo no esta enfocado al XU por lo que no se ven menus, botones, marcadores e imagenes back groun en figma que ayudan a tener un reporte profecional, pero por el valor, cumplo con tener lineamintos vastante interesantes y aplicables en el dia a dia.

  • Wynand du Plessis (Jun 3, 2023)

    Again excellent work by Marco and Alberto.

  • Mira Abel (Jun 2, 2023)

    A good and robust overview of the principles for creating an impactful dashboard.

  • Nicolas Rojas (Mar 22, 2023)

    La solucion para todo, es el grafico de linea y bara. creo que falta creatividad en como usuario los otros graficos. pero interesante, me aporto algunas cosas que me hacen sentido.

  • Tomas Padysak (Dec 24, 2022)

    Great course as always. I have also enjoyed the fun part :)

  • Jonathan Owney (Dec 3, 2022)

    Over all a very good course and worth the price. The content is anything ground breaking so if you're an experienced dashboard creater you probably don't need this course. I'd love to see a similar course for reports and paginated reports in the future.

  • Dana Haley (Dec 1, 2022)

    Very informative

  • Wilbran Toledo (Oct 13, 2022)

    Excelente material, didactica fenomenal

  • Renee Fehribach (Oct 11, 2022)

    Thanks Alberto and Marco and Team. I enjoyed the video course.

  • Gines Pagan (Aug 15, 2022)

    Thank you very much for this fantastic video course. I have enjoyed it while learning how to design a dashboard with Power BI. Now my concept of dashboard design is totally different. We can follow all the explanations with the downloadable files. Simply .... great! Again, thank you very much.