Key Points in Power BI Custom Visual Capabilities
What is Power BI Custom Visual?
Power BI has many visuals available out-of-the-box. It also has many visuals driven by artificial intelligence. Sometimes these visuals are not sufficient to meet the business requirement. We need to create custom visuals to represent the data in such cases. Custom visuals are created by Addend Analytics’ developers using the custom visuals SDK. Developers use JavaScript libraries such as jQuery, D3, R-language scripts, etc. to create custom visuals from scratch. Once a custom visual is ready, it is then tested and deployed.
Transform your Reports using Custom Power BI Visuals
Microsoft Power BI offers a good set of in-built visuals such as line chart, bar chart, funnel chart, KPI, map, pie chart, donut chart, etc. You can access and use these pre-packaged visuals from the Visualization pane in Power BI Desktop. These pre-packaged visuals might prove to be enough in most cases and fulfil your requirements in creating a report in Power BI. However, there will be times when you’ll have a hard time finding the right fit to graphically represent your data. In this case, Addend Analytics can help you select from rich library of custom visuals, import to Power BI Desktop, and use as per your industry requirement.
Top 3 Types of Power BI Custom Visuals
Power BI custom visuals are divided into three categories
Custom Visual Files
The custom visual files (.pbiviz) contain the code to run custom visuals in your Power BI app. Custom visual codes are created by developers and packaged in custom visual files with .pbiviz extension. Customers or report creators save these files to their computers and use them in Best Power BI reports. However, one crucial point to remember is that the custom visual you’re importing must come from a reliable source. There should be no security or privacy risks in the custom visual.
Organizational Visuals
Organizational visuals are visualisations created specifically for usage within a company. Every company has its own work-flows and business methods. As a result, they demand tools and approaches to meet their business needs. Microsoft Power BI allows you to create unique visuals that are suited to your organization’s needs. Developers within the company can design custom visualisations to depict data patterns and information that is important to the company. The deployment and control of the custom organisational visuals are handled by the Power BI admin (administrator). The admin adds custom visuals to the organisational visuals repository through the Power BI Admin Portal. These custom visuals are then imported into Power BI Desktop for use by users or report authors. As a result, these visualisations are now available for usage in reports and analysis by the data analyst.
Marketplace Visuals
Microsoft and its community members have tested and approved creative images for the Marketplace. AppSource is where power bi custom visualization is created and uploaded. This is done as a community service to help Power BI customers, who can utilize these custom visuals to explore new areas of their data. Connect with us to learn how to import custom visuals from Marketplace and AppSource. Some Microsoft images are subjected to considerably more stringent quality and risk testing. Certified Visuals are those that have passed such examination. These visualisations also have some extra features, such as email subscriptions, PowerPoint export, and so on.
Overview of Power BI Custom Visuals
Power BI is user-friendly and straightforward, but it is also loaded with numerous data visualization options. Many users have some misunderstandings when it comes to selecting the best type of chart for their data. Addend Analytics can study your raw data and select the best visuals to create a compelling data story. Our Power BI consultants can also create Power BI Custom Visuals to represent your data in the most effective way.
Waterfall Charts
It can be used to show how successive values have been changed by subtracting or adding them to the beginning value in order to arrive at the final value.
Scatter, Bubble and Dot Charts
A scatter chart always has two value axes to show: one set of numerical data along a horizontal axis and another set of numerical values along a vertical axis. The chart displays points at the intersection of an x and y numerical value, combining these values into single data points. Power BI may distribute these data points evenly or unevenly across the horizontal axis. It depends on the data the chart represents.
Pie Charts
Pie charts show the relationship of parts to a whole. It’s utilized to present the whole data composition in parts. Every pie chart component is represented in percentages, and the sum of all parts must equal 100%.
Power Apps visual
Addend Analytics’ Report designers can create a Power App and embed it into a Power BI report as a visual. Consumers can interact with that visual within the Power BI report. You just show your raw data, and we will recommend you the designs.
Ribbon Chart
Ribbon charts show which data category has the highest rank (largest value). Ribbon charts are effective at showing rank change, with the highest range (value) always displayed on top for each time period.
Decomposition tree
The decomposition tree visual lets you visualize data across multiple dimensions. It automatically aggregates data and enables drilling down into your dimensions in any order. It is also an artificial intelligence (AI) visualization, so you can ask it to find the next dimension to drill down into based on certain criteria. This makes it a valuable tool for ad hoc exploration and conducting root cause analysis.
Doughnut charts
Doughnut charts are similar to pie charts. They show the relationship of parts to a whole. The only difference is that the center is blank and allows space for a label or icon. It can be utilized to present the whole data’s composition in proportions. It’s practical when needed to show the different proportions making up the final value.
Funnel charts
These are utilized to present the process which results in a conversion. These are excellent alternatives when the data is sequential. For example, a sales funnel that tracks customers through stages: Lead > Qualified Lead > Prospect > Contract > Close. At a glance, the shape of the funnel conveys the health of the process you’re tracking. Each funnel stage represents a percentage of the total. So, in most cases, a funnel chart is shaped like a funnel — with the first stage being the largest, and each subsequent stage smaller than its predecessor. A pear-shaped funnel is also useful — it can identify a problem in the process. But typically, the first stage, the “intake” stage, is the largest.
Gauge Charts
Addend Analytics’ favorite radial gauge chart has a circular arc and displays a single value that measures progress toward a goal/KPI. In the example above, we are a car retailer, tracking our Sales team’s average sales per month. Our goal is 140 and represented by the black needle. The minimum possible average sales is 0 and we’ve set the maximum as 200. The blue shading shows that we’re currently averaging approximately 120 sales this month. Luckily, we still have another week to reach our goal.
Key influencers chart
A key influencer chart displays the major contributors to a selected result or value. Key influencers are a great choice to help you understand the factors that influence a key metric. For example, what influences customers to place a second order or why were sales so high last June.
KPIs
A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a visual cue that communicates the amount of progress made toward a measurable goal.
Line charts
Line charts emphasize the overall shape of an entire series of values, usually over time.
Maps
Enterprise can use a basic map to associate both categorical and quantitative information with spatial locations. The combination of ArcGIS maps and Power BI takes mapping beyond the presentation of points on a map to a whole new level. The available options for base maps, location types, themes, symbol styles, and reference layers creates gorgeous informative map visuals. The combination of authoritative data layers (such as census data) on a map with spatial analysis conveys a deeper understanding of the data in your visual.
Smart narrative
The Smart narrative adds text to reports to point out trends, key takeaways, and add explanations and context. The text helps users to understand the data and identify the important findings quickly.
Tables
A table is a grid that contains related data in a logical series of rows and columns. It may also contain headers and a row for totals. Tables work well with quantitative comparisons where you are looking at many values for a single category. For example, this table displays five different measures for Category.
Treemaps
Treemaps are charts of colored rectangles, with size representing value. They can be hierarchical, with rectangles nested within the main rectangles. The space inside each rectangle is allocated based on the value being measured. And the rectangles are arranged in size from top left (largest) to bottom right (smallest).
Treemaps are a great choice:
- To display large amounts of hierarchical data.
- When a bar chart can’t effectively handle the large number of values.
- To show the proportions between each part and the whole.
- To show the pattern of the distribution of the measure across each level of categories in the hierarchy.
- To show attributes using size and color coding.
- To spot patterns, outliers, most-important contributors, and exceptions.
Combo Charts
A combo chart combines a column chart and a line chart. Combining the two charts into one lets you make a quicker comparison of the data. Combo charts can have one or two Y axes, so be sure to look closely.
Combo charts are a great choice:
- When you have a line chart and a column chart with the same X axis.
- To compare multiple measures with different value ranges.
- To illustrate the correlation between two measures in one visual.
- To check whether one measure meets the target which is defined by another measure.
- To conserve canvas space.
Area Charts
The basic area chart is based on the line chart with the area between the axis and line filled in. Area charts emphasize the magnitude of change over time, and can be used to draw attention to the total value across a trend. For example, data that represents profit over time can be plotted in an area chart to emphasize the total profit.
Bar & Column Chart
Bar charts are the standard for looking at a specific value across different categories.
How Custom Visuals will enhance your Power BI experience
You need to evaluate and view your data through a consistent lens that provide comprehensive and rapid insights. This means that data is visualized using best practices to guarantee that information is provided more clearly, simply, and consistently and in an interesting way. And, because you’re using Microsoft Power BI, that means it’s available in cloud, mobile, and desktop formats. Addend Analytics’ custom visuals for Power BI deliver relevant one-click visuals to people where they’re needed most, allowing you to successfully communicate and collaborate across your whole business operations. These customised visuals provide actionable data that you exactly want, and this can help you make better decisions by streamlining your decision-making process.
Why partner with Addend Analytics for Power BI Custom Visuals?
- 100+ Power BI Custom deployed across the world.
- 2000+ Power BI Dashboards and Reports across multiple verticals
- Certified Microsoft Power BI & BC Gold partner
- All technically Qualified & Microsoft certified Team members
- 90% of Addend’s clients are repeated clients
Power BI Custom Visuals FAQs
What is Addend Analytics’ expertise?
Addend Analytics is a Microsoft Gold Partner with capabilities in Microsoft Fabric and Dynamics 365. We have successfully implemented 200+ Data Analytics and Business Central projects across U.S., Europe, UK and Australia.
What are your charges and are you expensive to work with?
We provide a milestone-based, low-risk, fixed-fee solution. So, if we don’t deliver as per the agreed project milestones, we don’t get paid. Let’s get it straight! It’s NOT our model to provide a $30k project budget – that eventually gets delayed by months; has bugs during production use, is costly to add new features, has architecture scalability challenges later, and whose ongoing support is even expensive than the original implementation. This is the exact reason why we encourage you to do a free POC with us!
Can you also provide ongoing support after the implementation phase?
We provide Managed Services Agreement (MSA) contract to our clients where they can leverage our resources for further continuing months for any small upgrades, customization, etc.
How do we know you will assign the right skilled people to the task?
This is our strongest point, and we boast about it. While sharing the proposal, we will submit you the list of folks working on the project and we encourage all our clients to explore our members’ Linkedin profiles and see the kind of work they have done and the experience they have! Please feel free to explore their blogs too! They all are Microsoft certified and some of them are even on their way to becoming MVP!
We don’t know you; how can we trust you will deliver on time and with the right quality?
We, therefore, recommend doing a free POC so you get a taste of our working style. Secondly, please take a look at our customer base, testimonials, and references. We can even call them on a call with you if you need. You can have a background check and that will speak all.
How do I contact you?
Please email your requirements at kamal.sharma@addendanalytics.com and we will get back to you.