Advanced Visuals in Power BI

 

Advanced Visuals and Interactivity in Power BI

All the advanced visuals are demonstrated using WeatherHistory Dataset (Download)

For the details on Weather dataset dataset description, new measures, and detail analysis please visit this article 👉👉👉👉    Weather Analysis and Forecasting in Power BI

Power BI offers a range of powerful visual features that make data storytelling and insight generation more intuitive. Here's how they were used in this weather forecasting dashboard:

1. KPI Cards

A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) visual is used to compare a base value (actual) against a target value (goal) over time or another category. It also shows the trend using color indicators (green/red) and arrows.

Used to display key weather metrics like:

• Maximum Temperature

• Average Humidity

• Average Wind Speed
  These single-value visuals help users instantly grasp important figures at a glance.

Purpose: Show key weather stats (e.g., Max Temperature, Avg Humidity) clearly and concisely.

Steps:

1. In Power BI Report View, click on Card visual.

2. Drag and drop Temperature (C) into Values.

3. Click dropdown → Select Max.

4. Format the label (optional: add °C unit using Format → Data label).

5. Repeat for:

• Average Humidity: Drag Humidity → select Average

• Average Wind Speed: Drag Wind Speed (km/h) → select Average

2. Gauges

Purpose: Compare a current value (e.g., average temperature) against a target (e.g., 40°C threshold).

🛠 Steps:

1. Insert a Gauge visual.

2. Drag Temperature (C) into Value field.

3. In Visualizations > Format > Gauge axis, set:

   • Minimum: 0

   • Maximum: 50 (or logical max)

   • Target value: 40

4. Optionally, use a DAX measure:

Dax: TargetTemp = 40

Use this in Target Value.

3. Tooltips

Purpose: Show extra info (e.g., Humidity, Wind Speed) when hovering over charts.

🛠 Steps:

1. Create a new page → Go to Page Information → Enable Tooltip.

2. On this page, add visuals like cards for:

   • Humidity

   • Wind Speed (km/h)

   • Cloud Cover

3. Name this page: “Weather Tooltip”

4. Go to your main chart (e.g., Line chart of temperature)

5. In Format pane → Tooltip → Page → Select “Weather Tooltip”

Steps to Enable a Page as Tooltip in Power BI

🔹 Step 1: Create a New Page

• Click the ‘+’ icon at the bottom to create a new report page.

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🔹 Step 2: Open Page Information

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🔹 Step 3: Set Tooltip Page Size (Optional but Recommended)

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🔹 Step 4: Design the Tooltip

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🔹 Step 5: Assign Tooltip Page to Main Visual

1. With the new page selected, go to the Visualizations pane on the right.

2. Click on the empty background (not on any visual).

3. In the Visualizations pane, switch to the Format pane (paint roller icon 🖌️).

4. Expand the section called Page Information.

5. Enable the Tooltip toggle.

1. In the same Format pane, expand the Page Size section.

2. Change Type to Tooltip (this resizes the page to a smaller canvas suitable for tooltips).

Add visuals like:

• Cards for Humidity, Wind Speed, etc.

• Mini line chart for hourly temperature

• Anything relevant to the data point you want to hover on

1. Go back to your main page with a visual (e.g., bar or line chart).

2. Select the visual.

3. In the Visualizations pane, go to Format → Tooltip.

4. Toggle Tooltip to "On".

5. Under Type, select Report Page.

6. Then under Page, choose your custom tooltip page from the dropdown.

4. Decomposition Tree

Purpose: Break down a measure (e.g., Avg Temperature) by various factors like Month, Precip Type, Wind Category.

🛠 Steps:

1. Create calculated columns (if not already):

Add a New Column

1. Go to the Modeling tab in the top ribbon.

2. Click New Column.

Dax:

WindCategory = SWITCH(TRUE(),

    'WeatherData'[Wind Speed (km/h)] < 10, "Calm",

    'WeatherData'[Wind Speed (km/h)] < 20, "Breezy",

    'WeatherData'[Wind Speed (km/h)] < 40, "Windy",

    "Stormy")

Now You Can Use These in the Decomposition Tree:

1. Add a Decomposition Tree visual.

2. Analyze: Add Temperature (C) or Humidity or any metric you want to break down.

3. Explain By:

• Month (just created)

• Precip Type

• WindCategory (just created)

5. Drillthrough

Purpose: Allow users to click on data (like a month) and navigate to a detailed page showing daily trends.

Step 1: Create a Drillthrough Page

1. At the bottom of Power BI, click the "+" (plus icon) to create a new page.

2. Rename it to something like "Monthly Details".
   
   

Step 2: Add Drillthrough Field

1. 1. On this new page, look at the Visualizations pane, scroll to find the Drillthrough section (usually at the bottom).

   2. Drag the Month column (which you already created) into the Drillthrough well.

      • This tells Power BI: "Filter this page by whichever month is selected."

   ✅ You’ll now see a back arrow (🔙) at the top-left of this page, confirming it's a drillthrough page.

Step 3: Design the Drillthrough Page

Now add visuals to show detailed daily weather for the selected month:

📊 Add a Line Chart:

• Drag a Line Chart onto the page.

• X-axis: Date column (not Formatted Date, but your split Date field)

• Y-axis: Temperature (C)

• Add Legend if needed (e.g., Precip Type)

📊 Add more visuals (optional):

• Bar/Line chart for Humidity over Date

• Card for Avg Wind Speed

• Card for Max Temperature

✅ All visuals on this page will automatically be filtered to the selected month when drillthrough is used.

Step 4: Go Back to Main Report Page

This is the page where you have a visual showing monthly summary, like:

🟦 Example: Bar Chart (Month vs Avg Temperature)

• Insert a Bar Chart.

• X-axis: Month

• Y-axis: Average of Temperature (C)

Step 5: Test the Drillthrough

1. Right-click on a bar (e.g., "January").

2. You’ll see a Drillthrough → Monthly Details option.

3. Click it.

4. It will take you to the “Monthly Details” page and show only January's weather trends.

6. Bookmarks in Power BI

Purpose:

Bookmarks capture the current state of a report page, including filters, slicers, visual selections, and visibility. You can use them for:

• Creating interactive navigation (like a PowerPoint presentation)

• Switching between views

• Highlighting key insights

• Making custom toggles (e.g., show/hide visuals)

Steps to Use Bookmarks:

Step 1: Enable Bookmarks Pane

• Go to the View tab.

• Check Bookmarks Pane (it appears on the right side).

Step 2: Set Up Your Page

• Arrange visuals, filters, and slicers as you want them.

• Optionally hide or show visuals using the Selection Pane.

Step 3: Add a Bookmark

• In the Bookmarks Pane, click Add.

• Rename it (e.g., “Sales View”, “Map View”, “Reset Filters”).

Step 4: Customize Bookmark Options

• Right-click your bookmark → choose:

  • Data – saves slicer and filter state

  • Display – saves which visuals are shown

  • Current Page – keeps current page view

• Uncheck options if you don’t want them captured.

Step 5: Add Buttons for Navigation (Optional)

• Go to Insert → Buttons → Blank or select a pre-built icon.

• Format it (icon, text, style).

• Under Action → Type: Bookmark → Select the bookmark name.

7. Smart Narrative and Summary Feature in Power BI

1. Smart Narrative

Purpose:

• Creates an automated, dynamic text explanation for all or specific visuals in your report.

• It scans the selected visuals and generates a narrative that updates automatically when the visuals change.

• It’s designed for storytelling in reports without manually writing insights.

Key Points:

• Can be linked to multiple visuals or to the entire page.

• Generates text with dynamic values (measures and calculations).

• You can edit the generated text, add custom text, and insert values using Value placeholders.

• Example: "Sales increased by 15% this year compared to last year" will update automatically if the data changes.

2. Summary (Visual Summary)

Purpose:

• Provides quick AI-generated insights for a single visual.

• It’s part of the Q&A & AI Insights tools, mostly for quick analysis rather than presentation.

Key Points:

• Only works for one visual at a time.

• Not meant for storytelling—mainly for exploratory data analysis.

• Cannot combine insights from multiple visuals or pages.

• You can’t insert custom placeholders—text is fixed to what AI generates.

Main Differences

Feature	Smart Narrative	Summary
Scope	Multiple visuals or full page	Single visual only
Dynamic Updates	Yes, updates with data changes	Yes, but only for that visual
Customizable	Yes, can edit text and add dynamic values	No, fixed AI text
Storytelling	Designed for storytelling dashboards	Designed for quick insights
Use Case	Final report presentation	Quick visual analysis