The 5 Fatal Things a Power BI Developer Should NEVER Do

So, you've donned your superhero cape and taken on the role of a Power BI developer? Power at your fingertips, insights galore, and the ability to turn mind-numbing data into meaningful visual masterpieces. But beware—every superhero has their kryptonite. There are some absolutely fatal mistakes lurking in the shadows that could reduce your polished reports to... well, glorified spreadsheets. Here are the five things you must absolutely, positively never do as a Power BI developer.

1. Overloading the Report with Too Many Visuals

Sure, visuals are the lifeblood of Power BI. Bar charts, pie charts, and line charts, oh my! But if you start slapping down visuals like a toddler in a sticker store, you’ll end up with what I like to call “Death by Dashboard.” Too many visuals make it hard for the end-user to focus. A screen crammed with 10 different charts might look impressive at first glance, but it's more likely to confuse than clarify.

Fatal Error: Confusing your audience so much that they can’t find the insights they're supposed to extract.

Pro Tip: Less is more. Focus on a few impactful visuals that tell the full story.

2. Building Reports Without Understanding the Business Problem

Building a Power BI report without fully understanding the business problem is like trying to solve a puzzle without seeing the picture on the box. Sure, you could slap some visuals together, but if you don’t know the question your users are trying to answer, your report is doomed to miss the mark. Just because you can make a pretty dashboard doesn’t mean it’ll be useful.

Fatal Error: Your report may look good, but it’ll leave stakeholders scratching their heads, wondering why it doesn’t help them make better decisions.

Pro Tip: Before you even touch Power BI, sit down with your stakeholders. Ask them what problem they’re trying to solve. What decisions do they need to make? Design your report with that in mind, not just based on what data you have. Even better, have a wireframing session with your stakeholders to fully understand what they want to see.

3. Ignoring Performance Optimization

Here’s the thing: no one wants to stare at a loading screen longer than they have to. When your Power BI report starts running like it's wading through molasses, users will lose interest faster than you can say "DAX formula." Failing to optimize performance is one of the quickest ways to send users fleeing back to their trusty Excel sheets.

Fatal Error: A slow report is a useless report. The more time users spend waiting for charts to load, the less time they have to make sense of them.

Pro Tip: Use measures wisely, avoid unnecessary calculated columns, and, for the love of all that is efficient, turn on query diagnostics to spot bottlenecks early. Always try to get the calculations done in the data source where possible to avoid PowerQuery having to do the heavy-lifting.

4. Using Hardcoded Data in Reports

We get it, deadlines are tight. You want to just hardcode a few things for that demo and fix it later. But then the demo goes well, the report goes live, and you forget about that sneaky hardcoded date range or sales figure. Suddenly, everyone’s wondering why the data isn’t updating, and—surprise!—your hardcoded numbers come back to haunt you.

Fatal Error: Your credibility takes a nosedive as soon as people realise the data in your live report isn’t actually dynamic!

Pro Tip: Always use dynamic references and calculated fields for values that need to change over time. It saves future-you from a headache.

5. Forgetting to Document and Name Things Properly

You know what’s fun? Trying to figure out what “Table1,” “Measure2,” and “CalcCol_3” are three months after you’ve built the report. Spoiler: It’s not fun at all. Naming conventions and documentation are your future self's best friend. Skip this step, and you’ll be the one playing detective when your client or colleague needs a tweak later on.

Fatal Error: Your reports turn into a maze of unhelpfully named objects that no one—including you—can figure out later.

Pro Tip: Name your tables, measures, and visuals clearly. And, yes, document those complicated formulas (I wrote an article here of a quick and easy way to do this in DAX Studio). You’ll thank yourself later (and so will everyone else).

What do you think?

There you have it—the 5 fatal sins of Power BI development. Steer clear of these pitfalls, and you’ll be celebrated as the reporting wizard you were always meant to be. But fall into these traps, and you’ll spend more time fixing problems than uncovering insights.

Anything else you think should be on this list? Anything you disagree with? Let me know in the comments, would love to know your thoughts!

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