What does a good report design contain?

Before going after complex things, ensure the basics are sorted out.

Most people in Data Science make the mistake of ignoring the basics and going after the complex things first.

This approach leads to failure.

Why? Because if the first brick of your wall isn’t laid properly, your house will fall no matter how strong the other bricks are.

First, check the basics, then progress to more complex elements.

This concept also applies to creating reports.

I’m sharing insights from my book Power BI Design Mastery.

So pay attention and read carefully.

When the audience looks at a report, an automatic and unconscious process occurs when they grasp the report.

Therefore, you should use basic report design principles to support this process to help effectively communicate meaning from data.

A good report design layout should consider these principles:

• Placement

• Balance

• Contrast

• Proximity

• Repetition

In this email, I’m gonna talk about Placement.

Good placement of report objects contributes to an ordered report design.

Generally, you should place the most important information in the upper-left corner of the page and arrange the report elements from left to right and top to bottom.

Making your report look good is about more than just putting things in the middle or placing them randomly.

You can make it more interesting by using a trick called the "Rule Of Thirds."

Here's how it works:

1. Imagine your page divided into nine equal boxes (like a tic-tac-toe board)

2. Put the important parts of your report along these lines or where they cross

3. This way of arranging things often looks better than just putting everything in the center

This method makes your report more eye-catching and organized.

That’s it for today’s email.

Tomorrow, I’ll cover another topic from Power BI Design Mastery.

You’ll learn a lot, so stay tuned and absorb as much information as possible.

-Sasi