7 Power BI Dashboard Design Mistakes You’re Probably Making (And How to Fix Them)

Designing a Power BI dashboard is more than just displaying data—it’s about creating a user-friendly interface that facilitates decision-making. While Power BI offers robust tools to create dashboards, the quality of your dashboard ultimately hinges on how you design it. A well-designed dashboard communicates key insights efficiently, while a poorly designed one can obscure the most important information, causing frustration for users.

In this post, we’ll explore the seven most common mistakes Power BI users make when designing dashboards and how you can avoid them to ensure your dashboards are clear, effective, and user-driven.

1. Treating Your Dashboard Like an Art Project

A common pitfall among Power BI users is treating dashboards like art projects. While it's tempting to flex your creative muscles and experiment with colors, shapes, and fonts, a dashboard is not an art project—it’s a functional tool for users. The primary focus should be on usability and clarity, not aesthetics for their own sake.

The Fix: Prioritize User-Driven Design

Instead of prioritizing aesthetics, prioritize the needs of your users. Who will be viewing the dashboard? What decisions will they need to make? How can you present data in a way that makes those decisions easier? By answering these questions, you’ll create a user-driven dashboard that serves its intended purpose effectively. Remember, a clean, simple design often communicates information better than a visually complex one.

2. Using a Predefined Resolution

Another common mistake is sticking with the default 16:9 resolution that Power BI provides. While it might seem convenient, this resolution is often not ideal for most modern monitors and devices. A dashboard with the wrong resolution can appear pixelated, stretched, or compressed, making it difficult for users to interact with the data effectively.

The Fix: Choose the Right Resolution for Your Audience

To ensure that your dashboards look crisp and clear on most screens, use a resolution of 1920x1080 (Full HD). This resolution is compatible with most modern monitors and tablets, ensuring that your dashboard looks sharp and professional. This small adjustment can significantly improve the user experience, making your dashboard easier to read and interact with.

3. Not Having a Cohesive Color Palette

Color is a powerful tool in dashboard design, but it’s easy to misuse. One of the most frequent errors is using too many colors without a cohesive color palette. This can lead to a confusing, chaotic dashboard where important information gets lost in the noise. Colors should be used intentionally to highlight key data points and guide users’ attention.

The Fix: Use a Cohesive, Thoughtful Color Palette

Choose a limited color palette and stick to it throughout your dashboard. Consider using shades of the same color to indicate different levels of data, and reserve bright, contrasting colors for highlighting the most important information. Additionally, ensure that your color choices align with your organization’s branding and are accessible to all users, including those with color blindness. Don't think you can differentiate between oxford blue and navy blue? Sweating the colors too much? Don't build your own, buy. Focus on what you do best. It will save you precious time.

4. Unintentional Layout

Layout is another area where many Power BI users stumble. A poorly planned layout can make it difficult for users to find the information they need, leading to frustration and decreased effectiveness of the dashboard. The layout should guide the user’s eye naturally through the information, making it easy to understand and act on the data presented.

The Fix: Apply UI/UX Principles to Your Layout

A well-designed layout leverages UI/UX principles, particularly the theory of proximity. Related items should be positioned close to each other, making it easier for users to draw connections between different data points. Additionally, the most important information should be placed in the top left corner of the dashboard, where users’ eyes naturally gravitate first. A thoughtful, intentional layout can dramatically improve the usability and effectiveness of your dashboard.

5. Overly Cluttered Dashboards

In an effort to be thorough, it’s easy to overload a dashboard with too much information. However, this often leads to a cluttered, overwhelming dashboard where key insights are obscured. Users should be able to quickly identify the three most important insights from your dashboard. If they can’t, your dashboard is too cluttered.

The Fix: Simplify and Focus on Key Insights

To avoid clutter, focus on the three most important insights that your users need to take away from the dashboard. Remove any unnecessary elements that don’t contribute to these insights. White space is your friend—use it to separate different sections of your dashboard and give the data room to breathe. A streamlined, focused dashboard is far more effective than one that tries to do too much.

6. Spending Too Much Time on the Layout

While it’s important to have a well-designed layout, many Power BI users fall into the trap of spending too much time on the layout at the expense of the actual data analysis. This can lead to delays and reduced productivity, as more time is spent perfecting the layout than on deriving insights from the data.

The Fix: Use Professionally Designed Layouts

Instead of starting from scratch every time, consider using professionally designed layouts that have been optimized for usability and effectiveness. These layouts allow you to focus on the data and insights, rather than spending hours tweaking the design. By using a pre-designed layout, you can save time and ensure that your dashboard is both visually appealing and functional.

7. Taking Inspiration from Web Design

Lastly, many Power BI users make the mistake of looking to web design for inspiration when creating dashboards. While modern web designs are visually appealing, they often don’t translate well to Power BI dashboards, which have different design constraints and usability requirements.

The Fix: Focus on Power BI-Specific Design Best Practices

Instead of copying web designs, focus on best practices for Power BI dashboard design. This includes understanding the limitations of Power BI, such as its responsiveness and interactivity features, and designing within those constraints. By tailoring your design approach to the specific needs of Power BI, you can create dashboards that are both visually appealing and highly functional.

Designing an effective Power BI dashboard requires more than just an eye for aesthetics—it requires a deep understanding of your users’ needs and how to present data in a way that facilitates decision-making. By avoiding these seven common mistakes and applying the tips we’ve discussed, you can create dashboards that are not only visually appealing but also highly functional and user-driven.

Whether you’re a seasoned Power BI user or just getting started, it’s important to remember that the ultimate goal of a dashboard is to communicate information clearly and effectively. By prioritizing usability, clarity, and functionality, you can create dashboards that truly serve their intended purpose. Impress your stakeholders in the process and as always, design smarter.