Dashboard & BI Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the Power BI, Tableau, and dashboard design terms you'll run into, each with an example of where it fits in a real layout.
B
- Bookmarks Power BI A bookmark in Power BI saves the current state of a report page, including filters, slicers, sort order and which visuals are visible, so you can return to it with one click or a button.
- Bubble Chart Visuals A bubble chart is a scatter plot where each dot's size shows a third measure. It compares items on three numbers at once, such as growth, margin and revenue by region.
- Bullet Chart Visuals A bullet chart is a compact bar that shows one measure against a target marker, on top of shaded bands for poor, fair and good. It's a space-saving alternative to a gauge.
C
- Calculated Field Tableau A calculated field is a new field in Tableau defined by a formula over your existing fields, such as a profit ratio, a flag or a cleaned-up date, that you can use in views like any other field.
- Canvas Size (16:9) Dashboard design Canvas size is the fixed width and height of a report page. Power BI defaults to a 16:9 page of 1280 × 720 pixels, and every visual's position and size is set within it.
- Column Chart Visuals A column chart uses vertical bars to compare a measure across categories or time periods, such as revenue by quarter. Taller columns mean bigger values.
- Combo Chart Visuals A combo chart combines columns and a line in one visual, usually on two y-axes, to compare a volume (like revenue) with a rate (like margin) over the same time period.
D
- Dashboard Mockup Dashboard design A dashboard mockup is a realistic, static picture of a planned dashboard, with real chart types, colours and sample numbers, used to agree what will be built before any data work starts.
- Dashboard Requirements Dashboard design Dashboard requirements are the agreed answers to who a dashboard is for, which questions it must answer, and which metrics, filters, data sources and refresh schedule it needs.
- Dashboard Wireframe Dashboard design A dashboard wireframe is a low-fidelity sketch of a dashboard's layout, using boxes and labels to show what goes where before any data, colours, or real charts are added.
- Data-Ink Ratio Dashboard design The data-ink ratio is the share of a chart's ink that shows actual data. Coined by Edward Tufte, it argues for removing borders, heavy gridlines and decoration that don't carry information.
- DAX Power BI DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) is the formula language of Power BI, Analysis Services and Power Pivot, used to write measures, calculated columns and calculated tables in a semantic model.
- Donut Chart Visuals A donut chart is a pie chart with the centre cut out. It shows how a whole splits into parts, and the empty centre is often used for the total.
- Drillthrough Power BI Drillthrough is a Power BI feature that lets readers right-click a data point and jump to another report page filtered to that item, such as a detail page for one region, product or customer.
E
- Executive Dashboard Dashboard design An executive dashboard is a one-page summary of the handful of metrics leadership uses to run the business, each shown against a target, so a leader can see in seconds what needs attention.
- Extract vs. Live Connection Tableau In Tableau, a live connection queries the source database every time a view loads, while an extract is a snapshot of the data saved in a .hyper file that Tableau reads and you refresh on a schedule.
F
- Fact Table vs. Dimension Table Data modeling A fact table records events and their numbers, like orders and revenue. A dimension table describes the things involved, like products, dates and regions.
- Funnel Chart Visuals A funnel chart shows how many people or items make it through each stage of a process, such as visit → sign-up → purchase, with each stage narrower than the last.
G
- Gantt Chart Visuals A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart that lays tasks out against a calendar, so each bar's start, length and end show when the work happens and how tasks overlap or depend on each other.
- Gauge Chart Visuals A gauge chart shows a single value on a semicircular scale from a minimum to a maximum, usually with a marker for the target, like a speedometer.
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I
K
- KPI Card Visuals A KPI card is a dashboard visual that shows one headline metric as a large number, usually with a comparison to target or a prior period and a small trend indicator.
- KPI Dashboard Dashboard design A KPI dashboard is a report page that tracks a team's key performance indicators against their targets, so readers can see at a glance which metrics are on track and which aren't.
L
- LOD Expression Tableau A level of detail (LOD) expression is a Tableau calculation that computes an aggregate at a level you choose, using FIXED, INCLUDE or EXCLUDE, instead of at whatever level the view is split by.
- Low-Fidelity vs. High-Fidelity Dashboard design Fidelity is how closely a design matches the finished product: low-fidelity uses rough boxes to settle layout, high-fidelity uses real visuals, colours and numbers to settle how it will look.
M
- Matrix Visual Visuals A matrix is a table that groups rows and columns by categories, such as region by quarter, with subtotals and expandable levels. It's the BI version of a pivot table.
- Measure vs. Calculated Column Power BI In Power BI, a calculated column is worked out once per row at refresh and stored in the table; a measure is worked out when a visual needs it, for whatever filters that visual applies.
O
P
- Paginated Report Power BI A paginated report is a fixed-layout report designed to print or export, with tables that flow across pages. In Power BI it is built in Report Builder; interactive reports are for exploring.
- Power Query Power BI Power Query is the data-preparation tool built into Power BI and Excel. It connects to a source, records each cleanup step you apply, and replays those steps on every refresh.
R
- Relationship Cardinality Data modeling Cardinality describes how rows in one table match rows in another across a relationship: one-to-many, one-to-one or many-to-many. It decides how filters flow and whether totals come out right.
- Report Style Guide Dashboard design A report style guide is a BI team's written standard for how reports look and read: colours, fonts, layout grid, standard visuals, number formats and naming, so every report feels like one product.
- Report Theme Dashboard design A report theme is a saved set of colours, fonts and visual defaults that a BI tool applies to every visual in a report at once. In Power BI it's a JSON theme file.
- Report vs. Dashboard (Power BI) Power BI In Power BI, a report is a multi-page, interactive view of one semantic model. A dashboard is a single page of tiles pinned from one or more reports in the Power BI service.
- Row-Level Security (RLS) Power BI Row-level security (RLS) restricts which rows of data each person can see in a Power BI report, by applying filter rules defined on the semantic model, so one report can serve many audiences.
S
- Scatter Plot Visuals A scatter plot places one dot per item on two numeric axes, such as ad spend against revenue, so you can see whether the two measures move together and spot outliers.
- Semantic Model Power BI A semantic model (formerly called a dataset) is the Power BI layer that holds a report's tables, relationships, measures and security rules, so every report built on it uses the same numbers.
- Slicer Power BI A slicer is an on-canvas filter in a Power BI report that lets viewers narrow every visual on the page by picking values such as a date range, region, or product.
- Sparkline Visuals A sparkline is a tiny line chart with no axes or labels, drawn next to a number or inside a table cell to show its recent trend at a glance.
- Stakeholder Sign-off Dashboard design Stakeholder sign-off is the point where the business owner formally approves a dashboard's design, usually a mockup, as the spec to build, so later changes are treated as new requests.
- Star Schema Data modeling A star schema is a data model with one central fact table of events and numbers, joined to dimension tables that describe them, so reports can slice measures by date, product or region.
T
- Tooltip Page Power BI A tooltip page is a small Power BI report page that appears when you hover over a data point, filtered to that point, so a tooltip can show charts and KPIs instead of a list of values.
- Treemap Visuals A treemap splits a rectangle into smaller rectangles sized by value, such as revenue by product, to show how a total breaks down. Nested rectangles show a hierarchy.
V
W
- Waterfall Chart Visuals A waterfall chart shows how a starting value becomes an ending value through a series of positive and negative changes, with each change drawn as a floating bar.
- Worksheet vs. Dashboard vs. Story Tableau In Tableau, a worksheet is a single view, a dashboard arranges several worksheets and other objects on one canvas, and a story is a sequence of views presented step by step with captions.