Power BI Mistakes to Avoid
58mIntermediate2025-11-06
Authors

Madecraft
Full-Service Learning Content Company
Course details
As a data expert using Power BI, your goal is to always be growing your skills. However, and regardless of if you even realize it, there are mistakes you're likely making that keep you from moving to the next level. In this course, learn the top Power BI mistakes: from misunderstanding business problems and using the wrong models to misaligning data and more.
Whether you're new to Power BI or a seasoned expert, there are key mistakes you'll want to avoid in order to get the most out of Power BI, as well as the data you're working with. Packed with short actionable tips, this course covers all aspects of extracting, transforming, loading, and visualizing your data. Learn how to be more effective at analyzing data, eliminate unnecessary steps, and identify the appropriate level of granularity. Along the way, gather insights on using slicers, avoiding common mistakes in charts, eliminating two-way relationships, and more.
Learning objectives
Become a more effective analyst.
Apply key concepts to effective data visualization.
Remove unnecessary rows and columns.
Eliminate two-way relationships.
Visualize time series data.
Identify when to use Top-N analysis.
Use slicers effectively to improve usability.
Whether you're new to Power BI or a seasoned expert, there are key mistakes you'll want to avoid in order to get the most out of Power BI, as well as the data you're working with. Packed with short actionable tips, this course covers all aspects of extracting, transforming, loading, and visualizing your data. Learn how to be more effective at analyzing data, eliminate unnecessary steps, and identify the appropriate level of granularity. Along the way, gather insights on using slicers, avoiding common mistakes in charts, eliminating two-way relationships, and more.
Learning objectives
Become a more effective analyst.
Apply key concepts to effective data visualization.
Remove unnecessary rows and columns.
Eliminate two-way relationships.
Visualize time series data.
Identify when to use Top-N analysis.
Use slicers effectively to improve usability.
Concepts
Introduction
- Improve your Power BI skills
Next-Level Power BI
- Main challenges of Power BI
- Systems thinking vs. ad hoc analysis
- Being an effective analyst
- Keys to effective data visualization
Connecting to Data
- Don't pull in too much data
- Eliminate extra applied steps
- Remember to profile your data sources
- Remove unnecessary rows and columns
Modeling Data
- Create a lookup table
- Use star schema
- Eliminate two-way relationships
- Apply user-friendly value replacements
- Define the right level of granularity
Visualizing and Analyzing Data
- Visualizing time series data
- Use groups to break up the analysis
- Use slicers to improve usability
- Use a custom tooltip to add detail
- Be careful with pie charts
- When to use Top-N analysis
- The full potential of visualizations
- Use color sparingly
Conclusion
- Additional resources
Related courses
- Power BI Mistakes to Avoid (2022)
- Power BI Data Analyst Associate (PL-300) Cert Prep: Connecting to Power BI Data
- Power BI Top Skills (2022)
- Power BI: Integrating AI and Machine Learning
- Data Dashboards in Power BI (2019)
- Power BI for Marketers
- Power BI Data Methods (2019)
- Power BI Data Modeling with DAX (2019)
Related learn paths
- Become a Power BI Specialist
- Get Ahead in Business Analytics and Analysis
- Moving from Data Analyst to Data Scientist
- Master Dashboards and Data Viz in Power BI
- Master Microsoft Power BI
- Prepare for the Power BI Data Analyst Associate (PL-300) Certification
- Explore a Career as a Power BI Specialist
- Prepare for the Power Platform Fundamentals (PL-900) Certification from Microsoft Press