Charts versus Images
Since I’m working with and learning how to use Power BI, I received one of Microsoft’s marketing newsletters which struck me as odd. It’s a beautiful marketing piece designed to produce an desire to try out Power BI. But what was odd was that the most compelling visuals were either imagery or the copywriting and not the charts. In fact, there are very little charts being displayed.
Here’s the introductory page. No charts here but you do see their logo and a picture.
See how there are different sizing of the text? Again, a nice imagery desaturated to provide a background.
There’s data on here but no charts. It is just copywriting and images combined with layout to make a compelling case.
Here we see some limited charting/visuals. The timeline at the bottom might be the equivalent of a multi-row card in Power BI.
The most compelling element start in the upper left. And it’s not a chart. It’s the handling of type.
Again not a chart in sight but great layout to avoid a huge block to text to read through.
And here’s the end with a call to action: get the Power BI for free.
The funny thing is I already had Power BI at work.
So the lesson I learned here is that the real power lies in the storytelling with imagery and texts/layouts, not with data or the charts. I suspect most of the time data and charts will play a supporting role. For regular everyday routine reporting such as dashboards or reports, there won’t be storytelling – there will be just standard visuals. I think the Power BI is to support the dashboards and the routine reporting.
If you want a copy, here’s the button to download:
You must be logged in to post a comment.