Build a Business Dashboard in Power BI or Tableau
Part of the Data Analyst Roadmap
In short
A real dashboard in your portfolio shows you can go from raw data to something a manager would actually open. That's the job, so it's the most convincing proof you can show.
The practice project for this phase — take a realistic business dataset and build a polished, interactive dashboard someone could actually use to make decisions.
Think of it like this
The sweet shop owner's board
Your uncle runs a sweet shop and asks: which sweets sell most, which days are slow, are festival weeks worth extra staff? You build one board he glances at each morning. That's this project: a real person, real questions, one clear page.
Watch it happen
The build plan
1/6Pick a user, like a store manager, and write their 3 weekly questions.
The big ideas
What you need to know
Questions drive visuals
Every chart should answer one of the user's questions. If it doesn't, cut it.
Numbers you can verify
Cross-check totals against a simple pivot table. One wrong KPI destroys trust in the whole board.
Real interactivity
Date and region filters plus cross-filtering. Show you understand how people explore.
A short write-up
Three findings and one recommendation, written for a manager, not a data person.
See it in code
Walk through the code
1Revenue = SUM ( Sales[Amount] )2Orders = DISTINCTCOUNT ( Sales[OrderID] )3Avg Order Value = DIVIDE ( [Revenue], [Orders] )4 5Revenue PM =6CALCULATE ( [Revenue], DATEADD ( 'Date'[Date], -1, MONTH ) )7 8MoM % = DIVIDE ( [Revenue] - [Revenue PM], [Revenue PM] )1/3Revenue, distinct orders and average order value. DISTINCTCOUNT avoids counting order lines twice.
The KPI measures most business dashboards need. In Tableau, the same ideas become calculated fields.
Save yourself the pain
Common mistakes
Oops
Choosing a flashy theme with gradients and 3D charts.
Do this instead
Plain background, one accent colour for what matters, flat charts. Clarity wins interviews.
Oops
No explanation of what the dashboard is for.
Do this instead
Add a title stating the user and purpose, plus a small note on data source and refresh.
Your mission
Milestone one: questions and KPIs
Quick check
Your Orders KPI shows 12,000 but the business says about 8,000 orders. Each order has several product lines. Likely fix?
Go deeper
- 1Pick a business scenario (sales, marketing, ops) and a matching sample dataset.
- 2Design the layout on paper first, applying Phase 5's principles.
- 3Publish or export it and write a short README explaining what it shows and why.
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