The Challenge
Recently, we had a client transitioning from a reporting software called Phocas. While this product was limited in terms of data visualisation, it worked extremely well as a flexible data explorer, allowing users to explore the organisation’s wealth of sales data through many different lenses.
With Phocas, users could adjust dimensions, measures, time periods, and filters to view their data from different perspectives, all within a single screen.
This presented a challenge when transitioning to Power BI, which is primarily a data visualisation tool rather than a database explorer. However, replicating the Phocas experience was a critical deliverable for the project.
The Solution
Multiple approaches were explored for the final solution, including the development of a multi-page report, but in the end, user experience trumped all other considerations. The report needed to be housed on a single page, and it needed the flexibility to view all sales data through all potential lenses. A true one stop shop for end users.
With this in mind, we stretched the capabilities of Power BI using the following techniques to deliver this key report:
Field Parameters for Dimensions and Measures
Field parameters allow the user to change dimensions and measures at will and be able to select multiple at a time, building a complex data structure in the central matrix.
Pop Out Panes
In order to maximise screen real-estate but maintain full flexibility for the user, all slicers / filters were grouped into pop out panes, created using a combination of bookmarks, buttons and shapes. To make these look beautiful and intuitive, conditional formatting was used in the buttons.
Conclusion
Using these techniques allowed us to create a deceptively simple report with almost limitless capability. This report ticked the client’s original requirements and has allowed them to transition their team into the Power BI ecosystem.
If you’d like to play around with a live version, you can find it here: Showcase | A is A Consulting