This cheat sheet maps common metric types to the most effective Power BI visuals, helping you communicate insights clearly and efficiently.
When building dashboards, selecting the right visual for your metric is key to clarity and impact. I’ve created a compact Power BI cheat sheet that maps common metric types—like comparisons, trends, rankings, and distributions—to the most effective visuals. Whether you’re working with KPIs, geographic data, or relationship flows, this guide helps you make confident choices that elevate your storytelling. Perfect for data managers, analysts, and anyone designing with purpose.
| Metric Type | Best Visuals |
|---|---|
| Comparison | Clustered Bar/Column Chart, Bullet Chart, Dot Plot, Gauge |
| Ranking | Bar Chart, Column Chart, Treemap |
| Change Over Time | Line Chart, Area Chart, Sparkline, KPI, Candlestick |
| Part-to-Whole | Pie Chart, Donut Chart, Stacked Bar/Column, Funnel, Waterfall |
| Flow / Relationships | Sankey, Chord, Bowtie, Network Navigator, Force-Directed Graph |
| Spatial / Geographic | Map, Filled Map, Shape Map, ArcGIS Maps |
| Distribution | Histogram, Box & Whisker, Tornado Chart |
| Correlation | Scatter Chart, Line & Clustered Column Chart |
| Single Value | Card, KPI, Multi-row Card |
| Dashboard Summary | Matrix, Table, Synoptic Panel |
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