Branding plays a crucial role in dashboard design, even for internal reports. Including your company’s branding in Power BI dashboards reinforces brand identity and ensures uniformity across all reports.
Logo Usage: Specify where and how the company logo should appear. Make sure to outline the size, color, and placement guidelines to avoid misuse. It’s recommended to place the logo consistently, such as in the header or footer of the dashboard.
Fonts and Typography: Consistency in typography is essential for readability and professionalism. Include guidelines on what fonts to use, their sizes for headers, sub-headers, and body text. Default fonts like Arial, Calibri, or custom company fonts can be included based on your brand standards.
Color Palette: Define the specific colors that align with your brand’s visual identity. Include RGB or HEX codes for primary and secondary colors, and specify how these colors should be used for various dashboard elements like charts, headers, and background. Color for Metrics: Assign specific colors to key metrics such as KPIs, revenue, and expenses. For instance, green could indicate growth, while red might highlight losses or risks.
A well-structured layout helps users quickly navigate and digest information without feeling overwhelmed. Consistency in layout design also ensures that different dashboards within the organization maintain a coherent structure.
Grid System: Using a grid system can help maintain symmetry and balance across the dashboard. Define the grid spacing, number of columns, and guidelines for arranging charts and tables on each page.
Placement of Key Information: Establish a clear hierarchy for important metrics. Place high-level KPIs and essential data points at the top, as this is where users’ attention is usually drawn first. Lower priority data can be positioned further down.
Navigation: If you have multiple pages or sections, define how navigation buttons or links should be placed. These could be placed at the top or side to guide users to different sections of the dashboard.
The type of visuals you choose can make or break the effectiveness of your dashboard. A style guide should clearly define which types of charts and visuals are acceptable and best suited for specific data representations.
Chart Types: Specify the types of charts and graphs to use for particular data sets. For example, bar charts for comparisons, line charts for trends, and pie charts for distribution (though pie charts should generally be used sparingly due to their tendency to misrepresent proportions).
KPI Representation: Outline how KPIs should be visualized, such as through cards or bullet graphs. Also, include guidelines for KPI thresholds (e.g., green for good performance, red for poor performance).
Naming Conventions for Charts: Include rules on how to name charts and graphs to avoid confusion. For instance, “Total Sales by Region” rather than a vague “Sales Chart.”
Legends and Labels: Ensure that every chart has clear legends and labels to help users easily understand the data. Define font size, style, and placement for these labels.
Icons and symbols can be used to represent different types of data, make dashboards more interactive, and guide users’ attention to specific metrics.
Icon Set: Create a library of pre-approved icons that align with your company’s brand and are easily recognizable by users. Avoid using too many different types of icons to prevent visual clutter.
Usage Guidelines: Define when and how to use icons. For example, green upward arrows can represent growth, while red downward arrows can indicate a decrease in performance.
Data formatting can significantly affect how users interpret information. Consistent formatting rules are essential for maintaining clarity across all dashboards.
Number Formats: Provide rules on how to display numbers, percentages, and currencies. For example, should thousands be represented as 1,000 or 1k? Should percentages include one or two decimal places?
Date and Time Formats: Specify how dates should be displayed (e.g., DD/MM/YYYY or MM/DD/YYYY). Consistent date formats are crucial, especially when dealing with international teams.
Units of Measurement: Define standard units of measurement to avoid confusion. For example, always use USD for currency or define the specific metrics for weight, distance, etc.
Power BI dashboards often include interactive elements like filters and slicers to help users explore the data in more detail.
Filter Placement: Decide where filters should be placed. Many style guides recommend placing them at the top or along the left-hand sidebar for easy access.
Slicers: Define guidelines for using slicers, such as their layout (horizontal or vertical) and alignment with other elements on the dashboard.
Drill-Down Options: If using drill-down capabilities, define how users should interact with these features, and how the visual hierarchy should change as they explore deeper levels of data.
Power BI allows for reusable templates and themes, which can streamline dashboard creation and ensure uniformity across all reports.
Creating Templates: Create and share Power BI templates (PBIT files) that include the predefined layout, fonts, colors, and chart formats. This reduces the need for recreating the same elements in every dashboard.
Theme Customization: Customize themes for your organization, and export them as templates that can be used across different dashboards. Define themes for charts, KPIs, and visuals, and ensure that developers use the same design elements consistently.