Month: November 2018

Data Visualization, Microsoft Technologies, PASS Summit, Power BI

Power BI Visual Usability Checklist

Meagan Longoria

At PASS Summit, I presented a session called “Do Your Data Visualizations Need a Makeover?”. In my session I explained how we often set ourselves up for failure when conducting explanatory data visualization before we ever place a visual on the page by not preparing appropriately, and I provided tips to improve. I also gave examples of visual design mistakes I see often. I polled the audience, and they shared some mistakes that they had seen often or that really bothered them. If you missed my presentation, you can watch it on PASS TV or Youtube.

As a companion to my presentation, I created the Power BI Visualization Usability Checklist. For those who are new to data visualization in Power BI, or those that want to employ some type of quality check, I think this is a good place to start. I occasionally do data viz makeover engagements to help people create a report that is more engaging and more widely adopted. This list draws from that experience as well as the tweaks I find myself making to my own Power BI reports. And now I have added a few things that my PASS Summit audience mentioned – thanks to those who shared their suggestions and experiences!

I’m not here to tell you to always use a certain color theme or font, or that everything should be a bar chart. Data visualization is situational and dependent upon your intended audience. I hope I can encourage you to consider your audience, how they take in information, and what information they are looking for.

This checklist provides guidelines to help make sure your report communicates your intended message in a way that works for your intended audience. It has two pages. The Data Viz Usability Checklist page contains the main checklist for you to use while building or reviewing a Power BI report.

Screenshot of Power BI Visualization Usability Checklist

The Data Viz Usability Concepts page gives you quick definitions and links for further reading about the underlying design concepts that inform my list.

Screenshot of Power BI Visualization Usability Concepts

Download the checklist here. I also have a checklist for accessibility in Power BI reports which you can find here.

If you have a suggestion to add to either list, please leave me a comment!

 

Microsoft Technologies, PASS Summit, Personal

Learning Better Presentation Skills (T-SQL Tuesday #108)

Meagan Longoria

TSQLTuesdayThis month’s T-SQL Tuesday is hosted by Malathi Mahadevan (@SqlMal). The topic is to pick one thing I would like to learn that is not SQL Server.

I’m going to go a different direction than I think most people will. I spend a lot of time learning new technologies in Azure, but I am also focusing on learning better presentation skills and improving my use of related technologies. Yes, that often means PowerPoint. But sometimes I do presentations directly in Power BI when I am presenting data or mostly doing demos. Building presentations requires tech, design, and speaking skills. And I enjoy that mix.

I enjoy presenting at user groups and conferences, and lately I’ve been branching out in the types of presentations I give. At PASS Summit this year, I delivered a pre-con and a general session, and I participated in a panel and the BI Power Hour.  Each one required a slightly different presentation style.

Just like we may cringe when we go back and look at old code and wonder what we were thinking, I have the same reaction when I go back and look at old presentations.

As a data viz person, you would think I would be better at building engaging presentations since a lot of the data viz concepts apply to visual presentation, but it’s still a struggle and a constant endeavor to improve.  I have made some progress to date. Below is a sample from a presentation on good report design practices in SSRS that I gave in 2015.

Old Presentation

While it’s not the worst slide I’ve ever seen, it’s definitely not the best. Here are a few slides from my PASS Summit presentation called “Do Your Data Visualizations Need A Makeover?”, which cover the same topic as the above slide.

NewPresentation1NewPresentation2NewPresentation3NewPresentation4

The new slides are much more pleasant and engaging. I have changed to this style based upon what I have learned so far from Echo Rivera’s blog and her Countdown to Stellar Slides program. I use more and larger images and less text on each slide. This naturally leads to having more slides, but I spend less time on each one. And there is less of a chance that I will revert to just reading from a slide since there is just less text. I get to tell you about what that one sentence means to me.

My goals is to learn how to deliver presentations that are more accessible and more engaging.

I blogged about accessible slide templates earlier this year. I got interested in accessibility when I was learning how to make more accessible Power BI reports.  I want people to feel welcome and get something out of my talks, even if they have visual, auditory, or information processing challenges. So far, what I have learned is that I can be more inclusive with a handful of small changes.

To continue my learning about presentation delivery, I plan to:

And of course, I plan to give presentations so I can try out what I learn and improve from there. I have already submitted to SQLSaturday Colorado Springs, and I’m sure I will add more presentations next year.

If you have resources that have been particularly helpful in improving your presentation delivery, please leave them in the comments.

Happy T-SQL Tuesday!