Data Visualization with Microsoft Power BI: How to Design Savvy Dashboards 1st Edition

Great book

Kolokolov and Zelensky's "Data Visualization with Microsoft Power BI: How to Design Savvy Dashboards" is a must-read for anyone looking to unlock the storytelling power of data. This book provides a comprehensive overview of chart types, from the familiar line chart to the more intricate chord diagram. But what sets it apart is its insightful guidance on chart selection, ensuring you always choose the most effective visual for your message.The authors excel at demonstrating best practices through real-world examples. By showcasing both effective and ineffective visualizations side-by-side, they provide clear visual cues that highlight common pitfalls and inspire design choices. For instance, I learned why tornado charts are a poor choice for comparing projected vs. actual values - a valuable lesson!Beyond individual charts, the book delves into dashboard design, offering practical advice on element positioning and configuration within Power BI. This makes it an invaluable resource for data analysts and business professionals in finance, sales, and marketing, especially those without coding experience.While the book boasts a companion GitHub repository with sample data, I found the link format somewhat cumbersome. Instead of direct links to file names, the authors use shortened URLs that are case-sensitive and redirect to the repository. Direct GitHub links would improve accessibility.The book's structure, with three sections of increasing chart complexity and challenging quizzes, reinforces learning and encourages deeper understanding.Overall: This book is a fantastic guide to data visualization with Power BI. Its clear explanations, practical examples, and focus on effective design make it a valuable asset for anyone seeking to transform data into compelling visual narratives.

Exceeded my expectations and here is why. I got a paper copy - 400 pages of colorful chart examples and guides on how to work with Power BI. I skipped basic barcharts and started from the middle: waterfall, gantt and bullet charts. These chapters are well-structured and easy to follow. The author does an excellent job of balancing theory with practical examples, which made learning the concepts engaging and hands-on. I found myself constantly referring back to it during my projects, and I’ve already noticed a significant improvement in how I present data. If you're looking to deepen your understanding of visual storytelling through data, this book is a must-read.

O’Reilly book series are very well written.

Very informative.

I am power Bi/Tableau developer. I am with the industry for long time. And I love books. I know we can learn things from digital media but for me books are always handy. I took this book with great expectation and i must say it stands up to my expectation. This book is for beginner as well as for experience people. The charts are explained well. It also explains when to create which charts and the purpose of it. A clear winner for me.

This book is one of the most practical and well-structured guides I’ve read on Microsoft Power BI. Instead of just showing how to drag and drop charts, the authors walk you through the principles of choosing the right visuals, avoiding common mistakes, and building dashboards that actually make sense to business users.I liked that it starts with the basics bar charts, pie charts, KPI cards and then gradually moves into advanced visuals like funnels, Gantt, and even AI-based charts. Each chapter has step-by-step guides and checklists, so you can follow along without getting lost. The included practice datasets were a huge plus, making it easy to apply the concepts right away.What stood out most was the focus on design and storytelling. The book doesn’t just teach “how to click in Power BI,” but why certain visuals work better for ranking, trends, or structure. The dashboard composition tips at the end were especially helpful, I can already see how they’ll improve the clarity of my reports.

I’ve gone through a few Power BI resources before, but this one really stood out. It explains things in a simple, step-by-step way that makes even the more advanced parts easier to follow. I liked how it doesn’t just show you the “how” but also the “why” behind building dashboards and choosing visuals. Great guide if you want to actually understand Power BI, not just copy instructions