22-25 April 2026

A structured approach to (Power BI) report creation

Proposed session for SQLBits 2026

TL; DR

Creating actionable Power BI reports involves more than just making dashboards look good. Reports should meet user needs, support decisions, and be actionable. This session presents a structured report design approach to help you achieve these consistently.

Session Details

Creating actionable Power BI reports is more than making dashboards look good. Reports need to meet user needs, support decisions, and be actionable. This session introduces a structured approach to report design that helps you achieve these goals reliably.

You’ll learn how to break the report creation process into clear, practical steps. This includes understanding the end user, defining the purpose of the dashboard, identifying actionable insights, exploring design options, and incorporating evaluation and testing. The framework also provides guidance on communicating expectations and establishing a consistent way of working across your team.

I will show how this approach aligns reports with user goals, improves clarity, and ensures your dashboards are not only built well but actually used. Attendees will leave with practical techniques to structure their reporting process, improve collaboration, and create Power BI reports that make an impact.

3 things you'll get out of this session

Understanding how report creation can be approached in a structured way. Insights into how a business user looks at requirements. Getting some guidelines in how to collect requirements.