Choosing the ideal KPI Card in Power BI
The Features and Benefits of KPI Cards for Effective Dashboard Design
Have you ever found yourself in the midst of crafting a dashboard, striving to perfect those crucial KPI cards, only to be held back by the limitations of available functionality? The struggle of configuring a single visual element can indeed be time-consuming.
Imagine that you want to create a dynamic dashboard. It sounds like a simple task until you dive into the intricate process of configuring each KPI card. Headings, measures, formatting, spacing, backgrounds, and borders — the list seems endless. Creating a complex card in Power BI requires aligning a total of 8 different objects.
Each element demands your attention! Hours have passed, and you’re still obsessively fine-tuning only one card. It’s a familiar dilemma for many data professionals: the trade-off between creating the perfect KPI card and the time it takes.
We decided to imagine and put together the top features that could be in the ideal KPI card. And we’ve identified 9 key criteria that make the perfect KPI card:
- Title on the top
- Conditional colors
- Target value
- Calculation presets
- Several targets/ baselines
- Icons
- Chart inside
- Card templates/ styles
- Fine-tuning
And we have selected 7 KPI cards from AppSource gallery to compare features. Here you can see the cards with the links:
1. Title on the top
When it comes to design logic, a card’s title should naturally grace the top of the card, considering our top-to-bottom reading pattern. But alas, the conventional Microsoft card template often overlooks this fundamental design principle, leaving us to manually adjust the title’s placement every single time.
The title location in the upgraded Microsoft card is automatically customized at the top, whereas the title in the original Microsoft card is at the bottom of the metrics.
Visuals that meet this criteria:
- KPI Card (new version)
- Multi Target KPI
- Dynamic KPI card
- Ultimate KPI card
- Zebra BI cards
2. Conditional colors
While Microsoft cards allow us to configure conditional formatting via color adjustments, there exists a quicker and more intuitive way to achieve this. You can set this up using conditions in the “Advance card” feature. This function is displayed within the menu with the “Conditions” option.
What’s even more exciting is that some cards go the extra mile, offering a separate function for fine-tuning conditional formatting for borders.
Visuals that meet the criteria:
- Multi target KPI
- Card with States
- Dynamic KPI card
- Advance card
3. Target value
The ability to quickly and easily compare fact deviations to plan or other indicators on a single KPI card is very important. The reality often deviates from this ideal, as not all cards offer the flexibility to accommodate these additional measures.
But digit without context is almost useless! That’s why it’s crucial to compare values on the KPI card with something.
Some cards have a feature to add targets while adding measures, allowing us to compare plans with facts.
Visuals that meet the criteria:
- Multi target KPI card
- Ultimate KPI card
- Zebra BI cards
- Card with States
- Dynamic KPI card
4. Calculation presets
One significant aspect of customization is the ability to finely tune how deviations are represented. Users want to understand how they deviate from the expected values. This deviation can be represented in 2 primary ways: as a percentage or as an absolute value. You can customize the conditional formatting according to the type of deviation.
This setting is present in the Multi Target KPI and you can select 1 of 4 options:
- measure;
- change over main measure;
- percentage over main measure;
- percentage change over main measure.
Visuals that meet the criteria:
- Multi target KPI
- Ultimate KPI card
- Card with States
5. Several targets/ baselines
We’ve found the KPI cards, in which it is simple to add up to three additional metrics, enhancing and simplifying your comparative studies.
A lineup of card champions includes Multi Target KPI, Zebra BI cards, and Ultimate KPI card, each of them allows adding up to 3 additional measures.
Further exploring the sophistication of additional measures, we have focused on a few essential capabilities:
- Automatically calculated values as a % of deviation and in absolute terms.
- The ability to change the orientation of the additional measure’s placement.
- The ability to individually adjust alignment for the additional measure.
However, not all cards allow you to add 3 several targets; in the Dynamic KPI card, you can only add 2 measures.
Visuals that meet the criteria:
- Multi Target KPI
- Zebra BI cards
- Ultimate KPI card
- Dynamic KPI card
6. Icons
The presence of icons to indicate decreases or increases in metrics is an excellent addition.
One of the most recognized and timeless icons is the arrow. It speaks volumes by visually depicting upward or downward trends. In the domain of conditional formatting, arrows stand out as icons for indicating positive or negative trends. This ingenious feature can be found in the Ultimate KPI card.
However, Zebra BI card offers a unique enhancement: arrow size modulation. If the deviation is very small, the arrow will be tiny and barely noticeable. In our view, this enhancement might not be very user-friendly
Diverging from the arrow trend, the Laconic card introduces an equally effective representation: the red dot. Serving as a visual beacon, the red dot spotlights instances of plan non-compliance.
Visuals that meet the criteria:
- Laconic card
- Ultimate KPI card
- Dynamic KPI card
7. Chart inside
Imagine you’re reviewing a set of KPIs, and you want to quickly grasp their trends. Charts (sparklines) in the card can be your guiding light in this case. They offer a visual summary of the data that your brain can process in an instant.
For example, Card with states integrates charts into their KPI cards. These miniature line charts provide a condensed view of how a specific KPI has been trending over time. They are particularly effective for spotting patterns, anomalies, and overall performance shifts.
Visuals that meet the criteria:
- Ultimate KPI card
- Zebra BI card
- Card with States
8. Card templates/ styles
Card styles can help to diversify your cards while also making them more customizable. Styles allow you to effortlessly switch between different pre-configured arrangements of measures, colors, and even charts, instantly transforming the look and feel of your cards.
This functionality is available in Card with States, offering 6 card templates with pre-configured groupings of measures, colors for all elements, and charts.
Visuals that meet the criteria:
- Zebra BI cards
- Card with states
9. Fine-tuning
Card fine-tuning is a powerful feature that lets you meticulously adjust the positioning of every element within your card.
Fine-tuning in Power BI depends on padding, which creates the invisible space around elements within a card. With the judicious use of paddings, you can control the indents between additional indicators, the positioning of the main measure, and even the space between them. This level of control empowers you to optimize your card’s layout for maximum visual appeal and clarity.
Elements can be fine-tuned in Card with States. However, Multi target KPI offers more granular fine-tuning, including the ability to change horizontal and vertical alignment.
Visuals that meet the criteria:
- Multi target KPI
- Zebra BI cards
- Dynamic KPI card
Conclusion
In our effort to uncover the best KPI cards for dashboard creation, we delved deeply into their features, analyzed their strengths and limitations, and explored how each one can enhance your data visualization process.
We selected 3 notable champions at the end of our research: Multi Target KPI, Ultimate KPI Card, and Card with States. Each of these cards received 6 “pluses” out of a possible 9.
However, it is important to note that these cards are not one-size-fits-all solutions. Their suitability is determined by your individual demands, tastes, and, of course, your budget.
So you can find your ideal KPI card!
We believe that armed with this information, you will approach your dashboard projects with renewed confidence and enthusiasm.
Happy dashboarding!
