Typical steps involved in creating a Power BI report

What are the typical steps involved in creating a Power BI report?

It is a common interview question for any Power BI fresher, and I’m trying answer this concisely while conveying the key points to this question through this post.

The following are the common steps involved in creating a Power BI report:

Step 0) Gathering requirement

This is the most critical step before starting the report building process. One needs to clearly gather the requirements from the stakeholders even before touching the data. Make sure you create a crystal clear business requirement document containing the necessary visuals, filters, slicers and other features of the report

Step 1) Getting the data

You can use the ‘Get Data’ feature in Power Query, which consists of numerous connectors to retrieve data from multiple data sources. There are two modes of connecting to the data source:

• Import mode brings the data tables to Power BI cache memory
• Direct Query mode enables you to query the source in real-time

Step 2) Cleaning the data

After importing the data, you may need to perform multiple transformations in the raw data to clean and prepare it for analysis. Most straightforward transformations are available in Power Query, while complex ones can be done in the Advanced Editor using M language.

Step 3) Model the data

In most real-world problems, you will get data stored in various related tables, as you will be dealing with relational databases. One can create those relationships in Power BI Desktop using Power Pivot. Also, you can mention the type of relationship and direction of filtering in this process. You can create DAX measures and calculated columns required for the analysis during this step.

Step 4) Visualize the data

Almost 75% of building the report is completed in step 3 itself. You will be adding relevant visuals to provide actionable insights to the end user in this step using the best practices. You can also use ‘Custom visuals’ from Microsoft App source based on the requirement. You can use advanced features like Bookmarks and Selection to create interactive reports.

Step 5) Publish the report

Once the report is ready and tested, sign in to your Power BI account and create a workspace. Publish the report to this workspace using the same credentials from Power BI Desktop. Add the credentials to the data source and schedule refreshes in Power BI service as per the end user’s needs.

I hope I’ve covered all grounds to this question and would help you answer this question in an interview!

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