Quick Idea: Let the consumers change the report design

In the September 2019 version of Power BI new dynamic conditional formatting options appeared. So I thought it’s time to talk about the possibilities that open up once all the different aspects of a visual can be dynamically formatted.

In the latest Microsoft Business Applications Summit, there was a really game changing announcement, which showed how in the future report consumers (!) will be able to change the visuals in reports they have access to.

And, I thought it would be awesome, if they could also change the look and feel of the reports.

This post won’t discuss in detail the how-to, just wanted to give you the idea.

Power BI Example:

So, I wanted the consumer to change the visual experience of the report.

Currently you are limited to a few formatting options, like title text and background , visual background, etc.

What you need to do to be able to dynamically set is the following:

  1. Create parameter tables to use as inputs
  2. Add calculated columns to calculate the hex values (it can be omitted)
  3. Then use measures to generate the dynamic value to be used as a color (important don’t forget there is a “#” sign needed to precede the color value)
  4. Use the created measure in conditional formatting as field values.

I created 3 measures in this example:

  • Color without Transparency
  • Color with Transparency: did you know that the 4th value controls the transparency (#FFFFFF00)
  • Turn Title ON/OFF (turn it totally transparent)

Ideas that you can use this for:

  • Print ready version ON/OFF
  • Color blind version ON/OFF
  • Everyone set its desired formatting options like hide/show certain elements of a visual.

Let me know, if you are interested about the details.

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About the author

Mihaly Kavasi

Data-driven Decision-Making Enthusiast.
Power BI Expert and Trainer. Helping organizations and communities to use data effectively.

Working @ Avanade
Speaker profile @ Sessionize

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