Course description

Data Visualization and Dashboards with Power BI introduces participants to Microsoft Power BI, covering everything from installation to advanced data analysis. The course starts with an overview of Power BI Desktop and Service, then moves on to data preparation, including importing and cleaning data. Participants will learn to create and use various Power BI visuals and explore DAX for calculations and measures. The final module focuses on Power BI Service features, including sharing, collaboration, and publishing. Practical exercises with real-world datasets will enhance skills in data manipulation and visualization.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Gain a thorough understanding of Power BI Desktop and Power BI Service, including their roles and functionalities in business data analysis.
• Learn to import data from various sources, clean and shape data, and prepare it for analysis using Power BI's data transformation tools.
• Develop skills in creating and customizing a wide range of Power BI visuals, including charts, maps, and cards, to effectively communicate data insights.
• Acquire proficiency in DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) for creating calculated columns, measures, and performing complex data calculations.
• Understand how to create workspaces, publish reports, set up alerts, and manage dashboards in the Power BI Service for effective data sharing and collaboration.
• Apply learned skills to real-world datasets, enabling the ability to perform sophisticated data analysis and build interactive reports and dashboards.

Target groups

The course is designed for:

• Business Analysts: Professionals seeking to enhance their data analysis and visualization skills using Power BI to make data-driven decisions.
• Data Analysts: Individuals aiming to deepen their expertise in data preparation, cleaning, and creating interactive reports and dashboards.
• Managers and Executives: Those who need to interpret data insights and trends effectively to drive strategic decisions and improve business outcomes.
• IT Professionals: Technicians and developers interested in integrating Power BI into existing systems and leveraging its data visualization capabilities.
• Students and Recent Graduates: Individuals pursuing careers in data science, business intelligence, or analytics who want to gain practical experience with Power BI.

Course requirements

To get the best out of the course, the following will be required:

• Basic Computer Skills: Proficiency in basic computer operations and internet navigation.
• Microsoft Excel: Familiarity with Excel is helpful for understanding data import and manipulation tasks.
• Power BI Software: Install Power BI Desktop. Instructions for downloading and installation will be provided.
• Sample Data: Access to and preparation of sample datasets provided during the course.
• Basic Data Understanding: Familiarity with basic data concepts and terminology will be helpful for understanding data visualizations.
• Willingness to Learn: An eagerness to explore and learn data visualization techniques and practices using Power BI.

Course outline

1. MODULE 1: Introduction to Power Query and Power BI
   1. What is data visualization
      1. Definition and importance of data visualization
      2. The role of data visualization in decision-making
      3. Examples of effective vs. ineffective visualizations
   2. Benefits of Data Visualization
      1. Simplifying complex data
      2. Identifying patterns and trends
      3. Enhancing storytelling with data
   3. Introduction to Dashboards
      1. What are dashboards?
      2. Difference between reports and dashboards
      3. Examples of interactive dashboards in Power BI
   4. Key Principles of Effective Visualization
      1. Clarity and simplicity
      2. Use of color and layout effectively
      3. Avoiding common visualization pitfalls
   5. Dashboards vs. Static Reports
      1. Interactivity in dashboards
      2. Real-time data updates
      3. Benefits of dashboards for dynamic insights
   6. Power BI introduction
      1. Why Microsoft Power BI
      2. Power BI family
      3. Power BI desktop
      4. Power BI service
      5. Downloading and installing Power BI
      6. Opening Power BI
   7. Introduction to Power Query
      1. What is Power Query?
      2. Accessing Power Query in Power BI
   8. Importing data sets into Power Query
      1. Local Files: Excel, CSV, Text
      2. Databases: SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle
      3. Online Sources: SharePoint, OneDrive, Web
      4. Other Formats: APIs, Hadoop, Azure
      5. Download and install sample data sets
   9. Saving and loading data sets
      1. Load to Excel Worksheet (Close & Load)
      2. Load to Power BI (Close & Apply)
2. MODULE 2: Data preparation and cleaning with Power Query
   1. Text Functions in Power Query
      1. Text length
      2. Concatenate text
      3. Change case (Upper, lower and proper)
      4. Add suffix and prefix
      5. Trim text (Left, right and mid)
      6. Extract text with delimiter
      7. Split columns
   2. Number Functions in Power Query
      1. Number Functions in Power Query
      2. Add, subtract, divide, multiply
      3. Percentage, percent of, modulo
      4. Rounding the numbers
      5. IsEven, IsOdd, and Sign
   3. Date Functions in Power Query
      1. Year, quarter, month, day
      2. Difference between dates, earliest and latest
      3. Name of day and name of month
      4. Day of week / month / year and week of month / year
      5. Extract date from date and time
      6. Calculate age in 2 button clicks
      7. Which day of year, quarter, month your date of birth is
   4. Appending Files & Tables
      1. Multiple CSV files from a folder
      2. Multiple Excel tables / sheets from single file
      3. Append Excel tables with different number of columns
      4. Multiple excel files from a folder
      5. Different data sources in Power Query
   5. Merging Files & Tables
      1. Merge tables / worksheets
      2. Merge data from multiple Excel files
      3. Merge data from different data sources
      4. Merge data having multiple matching columns or multiple criteria
   6. Manipulating and transforming datasets
      1. Make first row as headers
      2. Column data types
      3. Go to column
      4. Add new columns
      5. Rearrange columns
      6. Fill down and fill up
      7. Grouping
      8. Transpose
      9. Unpivot columns
      10. Replace column values and errors
      11. Keep and remove rows
      12. Keep and remove columns
      13. Remove columns with missing values
      14. Remove duplicates
   7. The M language in Power Query
      1. Introduction to M language
      2. Key Concepts in M Language
      3. Exploring the Power Query Formula Bar
3. MODULE 3: Power BI visualizations
   1. Introduction
   2. Basic charts
      1. Column chart
      2. Stacked column chart
      3. Pie chart
      4. Donut chart
      5. Funnel chart
      6. Ribbon chart
      7. Keep only and exclude
      8. View data and export
   3. Intermediate charts
      1. Line chart
      2. Drill down in line chart
      3. Area chart
      4. Line vs column chart
      5. Scatter plot
      6. Waterfall chart
      7. Treemap
      8. Guage chart
   4. Creating maps
      1. Create a Map
      2. Change Background
      3. USA Map
      4. Africa Map
      5. Kenya map
      6. Nairobi City map
   5. Advanced Charts
      1. Animated bar chart race
      2. Drill down donut chart
      3. Drill down column chart
      4. Word cloud
      5. Sankey chart
      6. Infographic
      7. Play axis
      8. Scoller
      9. Sunburst chart
      10. Histogram
4. MODULE 3: Tables and matrices
   1. Creating a simple table
   2. Formating in table
   3. Conditional formating in table
   4. Changing aggregation in table
   5. Creating a matrix in Power BI
   6. Conditional formating in matrix
   7. Automatic hirearchies in matrix
   8. Subtotal and grand total
   9. Number formating in table and matrix
5. MODULE 3: Cards, Filters and Slicers
   1. Cards
      1. Number card
      2. Text card
      3. Date card
      4. Multi-row card
   2. Filters
      1. Filter on visual
      2. Filter on page
      3. Filter on all pages
      4. Drill through
   3. Slicers
      1. Slicers for text
      2. Format text slicer
      3. Date slicer
      4. Format date slicer
      5. Number slicer
6. MODULE 3: Objects & Actions (Hyperlinks)
   1. {" "} Objects
      1. Insert image
      2. Insert text
      3. Insert shapes
      4. Insert buttons
   2. Actions
      1. Action - Web URL
      2. Action - Page navigation
      3. Action bookmark
7. MODULE 3: Introduction to DAX
   1. DAX101 - What is DAX
   2. DAX101 - DAX data types
   3. DAX101 - DAX operators and syntax
   4. DAX101 - M vs DAX
   5. DAX101 - Create a column
   6. DAX101 - Rules to create measures
   7. DAX101 - Calculated columns vs calculated measures
   8. DAX101 - SUM(), AVERAGE(), MIN(), MAX()
   9. DAX101 - SUMX(), DIVIDE()
   10. DAX101 - COUNT(), COUNTROWS()
   11. DAX101 - CALCULATE() (parts 0 & 1)
   12. DAX101 - FILTER(), ALL()
8. MODULE 4: Power BI service, sharing, and collaboration
   1. Power BI service and dashboards
      1. Power BI reports
      2. Power BI workspaces
      3. Create an account on Power BI service
      4. Create workspace and publish report
      5. Create and publish dashboard
      6. Delete reports or dashboards
      7. Dashboard menus
      8. Quick insights
      9. Setting up alerts on cards
      10. Printing dashboards and reports
      11. Filter levels (page, report, visualization)
      12. Automatic refress
   2. Sharing and collaboration
      1. Export (PPT, PDF, PBIX) report and share
      2. Sharing dashboards
      3. Sharing workspaces
      4. Sharing apps
      5. Publish to web