Author: Michel Dekker

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Cycle Plot for Power BI

Every month Microsoft publishes a summary of all the new features in Power BI within their Power BI Blog. In the May 2021 post we got the opportunity to introduce our Cycle Plot for Power BI to the Power BI community. Here you have our contribution to the Power BI Blog.

Time series are great to clarify changes over time in measures. The line chart is the favourite chart for this data. But displaying results with a normal line chart can also hide important patterns. This happens when the measure contains seasonality. The Cycle Plot is a special line chart developed to show seasonal time series. It helps you to visualise trends within seasonal data. It has the strengths of common line charts. But without hiding cyclical patterns.

Cycle Plot example

Let’s explain with an example. Say we are looking at items sold over a number of weeks. We expect to sell more on weekdays compared to the weekend. A line chart will show low values during the weekend and higher values during the week. However, it’s hard to tell if sales on Mondays are increasing or decreasing over the weeks. With the Cycle Plot a subplot can be created for each day. You can show the change in sales over time for that day. All the subplots together still show the seasonal pattern as well, as seen in the image above.

Don’t hesitate and try the Cycle Plot now on your own data by downloading it from the AppSource. All features are available for free to evaluate this visual within Power BI Desktop.

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Power BI visual: SMART KPI List

Every month Microsoft publishes a summary of all the new features in Power BI within their Power BI Blog. In the March 2021 post we got the opportunity to introduce our visual SMART KPI List to the Power BI community. Here you have our contribution to the Power BI Blog.

One important goal of any well designed dashboard is to inform its readers by creating one overview of all KPI’s. This requires a compact and effective way to display them all together. The SMART KPI List is created specifically for this purpose.

Why do we name it SMART? Because this visual allows everyone to create an overview of their KPI’s that is:

  • Specific: the red-dot highlights the KPI’s that need immediate attention;
  • Measurable: A value alone is a weak indicator of performance. A sparkline shows the trend to determine if you are moving towards your goal;
  • Achievable: By comparing each result with a target you can determine if your KPI has met expectations;
  • Relevant: Within the sparkline you can add a bandwidth of acceptable results which helps the user to identify “normal” and “abnormal” results in the past;
  • Time-bound: The sparkline adds the required historic context to each indicator to enrich the indicators signals;

Don’t hesitate and try the SMART KPI List now on your own data by downloading it from the AppSource. All features are available for free to evaluate this visual within Power BI Desktop.

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Shielded HTML Viewer

Every month Microsoft publishes a summary of all the new features in Power BI within their Power BI Blog. In the February 2021 post we got the opportunity to introduce our Shielded HTML Viewer to the Power BI community. Here you have our contribution to the Power BI Blog.

Context is king in data visualization. This probably explains the popularity of Power BI visuals that allow users to add HTML formatted content to their reports and dashboards.

Showing HTML formatted content can add great value to your reports, but it may also form a potential security risk. This is why we created the Shielded HTML Viewer: the first and only HTML Viewer for Power BI certified by Microsoft.

The Shielded HTML Viewer (in the image above used in the tooltip of a Dumbbell Bar Chart) is based on a so called allow-list: only those HTML tags and attributes mentioned in this list will be interpreted and formatted accordingly. Anything else will be ignored, so no risk of running harmful HTML codes.

Furthermore, all functionality is available through the standard Power BI interface, so no need to learn a new interface.

Don’t hesitate and try the Shielded HTML Viewer now on your own data by downloading it from the AppSource. All features are available for free to evaluate the Shielded HTML Viewer within Power BI Desktop.

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XmR Charts In Power BI

XmR Charts In Power BI

If you really want to get the truth from your KPIs, XmR charts are the best tool to display them. We get clear signals of true change, and it’s easier to set targets and quantify our progress toward them.

In January 2021 I had the opportunity to talk with Stacey Barr, THE specialist in evidence-based leadership and organisational performance measurement. We spoke about the XmR chart in general and about our Power BI Custom Visual named Control Chart XmR.

Watch the replay here and find out:

  • What an XmR chart is and how it gets the truth out of your KPIs
  • How the Power BI XmR chart tool works
  • What it’s like to use the Power BI XmR chart tool on one of Stacey’s real KPIs
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The Strip Plot

Every month Microsoft publishes a summary of all the new features in Power BI within their Power BI Blog. In the december 2020 post we got the opportunity to introduce our Strip Plot to the Power BI community. Here you have our contribution to the Power BI Blog.

Most charts will force you to summarize or categorize data before it is displayed. This can hide important details and may be misleading. The Strip Plot shows all your data observations in one go without hiding important details. It shows each data point on a single continuous scale.

The example above illustrates this by showing the number of reported COVID-19 cases per continent (on September 1st, 2020). The bar chart shows the average per continent, where the Strip Plot shows the cases per individual country. In the Strip Plot it becomes obvious the relative high number in Oceania are caused by just two countries (outliers), where the bar chart only shows a very high average. It’s these kinds of details that become visible in the Strip Plot.

Furthermore, the Strip Plot supports all standard Power BI functionality like drilling, selection & highlighting, context menu and full tooltip support. All this functionality is available through the standard Power BI interface, so no need to learn any new interface.

Don’t hesitate and try the Strip Plot now on your own data by downloading it from the AppSource.