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Andri Rahman

Enhancing Insights and Experience in Power BI Reports with Modern Tooltips 

Updated: Oct 16

Data reports can be difficult to understand. When viewing a chart, users may wonder what the chart is conveying. Tooltips help by offering extra context and clarity. Previously, tooltips in Power BI were simple, just a pop-up display with a few words. However, in May 2024, Power BI introduced "modern tooltips," changing the way users interact with data.

power bi tooltips example

According to Power BI documentation, these new tooltips do more than just display numbers and words. Users can now interact with visuals through tooltips, enabling them to zoom in on details and navigate to other parts of the report with a single click. These enhancements transform static reports into interactive experiences, making data more dynamic and engaging than ever before.

 

This innovation in report design significantly improves both understanding and user experience. As CIO magazine explains, effective Business Intelligence (BI) isn't just about generating reports; it's about providing comprehensive insights that inform better decision-making. This article will discuss how modern tooltips can help provide a deeper understanding of your data.


How to Set Up Modern Tooltips in Power BI? 

Before using modern tooltips, users may need to turn on the modern tooltips setting via Options & Settings. 


  • For new reports in Power BI Desktop 

In Power BI Desktop, go to File → Options and settings → Options → Preview features. Select the Modern visual tooltips checkbox.


 

  • For existing reports in Power BI Desktop 

Go to File → Options and settings → Options → Current file → Report settings. Select the checkbox under Modern visual tooltips.

 

  • For reports in Power BI Service 

Go to File → Settings. Switch the Modern visual tooltips toggle on.

 

Key Features of Modern Tooltips in Power BI

Modern tooltips come packed with features that elevate their functionality: 

  • Drill Up & Drill Down: This feature allows users to navigate through hierarchical data levels directly from the tooltip. For instance, one could drill down from annual sales data to quarterly or monthly figures, providing a seamless data exploration experience.  


  • Drill Through: Modern tooltips enable users to jump to detailed report pages with more in-depth information. This is particularly useful for complex datasets where users may need to explore specific aspects of the data without cluttering the main report view. 


  • Updated Styling: Modern tooltips come with enhanced styling options, allowing users to customize the look and feel to match their report's theme.   

 

Real-World Modern Tooltips in Power BI Example 

According to Forbes, Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, once said that having a clear and fresh view of business data allowed him to understand what was happening and respond accordingly. Consider a sales dashboard that displays performance metrics. Modern tooltips can highlight sales at different levels—continent, country, and product. By hovering over data points, users can access detailed metrics without leaving the current view.


Enhancing User Experience and Insights with Power BI's Modern Tooltips

 

Modern tooltips significantly improve the user experience by making data exploration intuitive and engaging. Clear and informative tooltips serve as guides, encouraging users to dive deeper into the data. By offering relevant context and additional layers of information, tooltips make data more accessible and comprehensible.

 

Data Exploration: Features like drill up & drill down allow users to navigate through hierarchical data levels directly from the tooltip. For instance, a user can drill down from sales data at continent level to country level, providing a seamless data exploration experience. This feature ensures that users can uncover more granular insights without needing to switch between different views or reports. Similarly, drill through enables users to jump to detailed report pages with more in-depth information.  

 

Data Storytelling: With features like drill-up, drill-down, and drill-through, users can easily follow the narrative within the data. For example, tooltips can display a high-level summary of continental sales, and with a quick drill-down, can show details per country. This layered approach helps users understand the broader context while allowing them to zoom in on specific details. The interactive nature of these tooltips makes the data journey more interesting, allowing users to discover hidden trends and patterns.  

 

Conclusion 

 

In summary, modern tooltips in Power BI offer numerous benefits, from enhanced data exploration to improved storytelling. With features like drill-up, drill-down, and drill-through, modern tooltips revolutionize how users interact with data, making it more dynamic and insightful. Embracing these capabilities can significantly improve the clarity and impact of Power BI reports, turning them into powerful tools for data-driven storytelling. Explore the full potential of modern tooltips to create enriched and engaging reports.





 

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