Power BI Odyssey with Adventure Works Cycles

Data/Approach This was a pretty rich data set of 10 tables, 11 including the Rolling Calendar that needed to be created. For anyone who is new to Power BI, you really have to create a Rolling Calendar when dealing with time series. A bunch of FEATURE ENGINEERING happened (No I did not predict anything for the Data Science people, but it feels so good to know that I was doing Data Science like tasks before I actually started doing Data Science!), and obviously normalized and connected the database tables. While this dashboard was a guided project, it most certainly reflects how I would design a dashboard with highlevel KPIs, and one or two charts in the middle. Clutter is most certainly not your friend I acquired best in class tools to help avoid that...

Key Concepts 4 things that really excited me that I think everyone should be implementing include

1. Bookmarks - the links are on the right panel. The first, clear filters, is such a handy option to have given that you can potentially filter on filters. It certainly will make people not so savvy with dashboards more comfortable and appreciative of your work. The second, filter which includes options for year and region. The last four will take you to the other tabs of the dashboard. I love these sorts of links and try to implement them not just in PowerBI, but also in Tableau.
2. Field Parameters - my favorite. On the Product Detail tab, you can select which metric you prefer on the line chart. If you decide you want to quickly review Total Revenue or Total Returns on a particular date, a simple click of the respective radio button will do it. The development is so much less involved than in Tableau, but provides the same amazing flexibility.
3. Numeric Range Parameter - my other favorite. Also on the Product Detail tab, there is an option to ADJUST PRICE. Again, parameter development is very seamless as a SLICER is all that will need to be included for it to function. In the Product Detail tab we are simply looking at the selected product, and modifying price to convey the sensitivity of Total Profit. Very cool!
4. Category Tooltip - two charts on the Exec Dashboard, Weekly Revenue and Orders by Category include a tooltip (the information provided when you hover over). There's a difference between the two. I think the Orders by Category tooltip can be a bit of a game changer, as once again, you can consume so much information, without having to sacrifice real estate. I like it a lot.

Observations & Reflections I think this is an ideal template for dashboard development. The concepts highlighted will help you avoid the trap of clutter and busy.