Building Interactive Dashboards in Excel

This instructional guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough on creating interactive dashboards in Microsoft Excel. It begins by explaining how to transform raw data into a table format and then proceeds to demonstrate the creation of multiple pivot tables from this data. The guide then illustrates how to generate various pivot charts from these tables, including stacked column and line charts, and how to integrate them onto a single dashboard sheet. A key feature covered is making the dashboard dynamic through the addition and connection of slicers and timelines, allowing users to filter data interactively. Finally, the source details how to refresh the dashboard with new data, customize its appearance, and share the completed dashboard with others.

Interactive Excel Dashboards: Building and Sharing Data Insights

Building interactive dashboards in Microsoft Excel allows you to showcase the most important information to your organization, and it is described as being very easy to set up. You don’t need to know any VBA or install any add-ins, only the base version of Microsoft Excel. Once created, the dashboard will automatically update to reflect the latest data as new information comes in. It is also easy to share with others in your organization.

Here’s a detailed discussion on building Excel interactive dashboards based on the sources:

Core Components and Setup

• Purpose: Dashboards can be used to answer various business questions, such as those related to profit or unit sales for a company.
• Data Preparation: The first step is to ensure your data is in a table format. You can do this by clicking anywhere in your data, then going to the “Insert” tab on the top ribbon and selecting “Table,” or by pressing the shortcut key Control + T. When prompted, ensure your table has headers. This tabular format works very well for creating pivot tables.
• Pivot Tables: To build the dashboard, you will create several pivot tables. These pivot tables serve as the foundation for your charts.
• To insert a pivot table, click into your data table, go to the “Insert” tab, and select “PivotTable”.
• It is recommended to place the pivot table on a new worksheet.
• For a dashboard with three different charts, you will likely need three different pivot tables. You can create copies of an existing pivot table sheet by holding the Control key, clicking on the sheet, and dragging it over.
• Pivot Charts: Once your pivot tables are set up, you will insert pivot charts to visually represent the data.
• To insert a chart, click into your pivot table, go to the “PivotTable Analyze” tab on the top ribbon, and select “PivotChart”.
• Chart Types:
• For profit by country and cookie, a stacked column chart works well, which helps visualize largest items at the bottom and smallest at the top.
• For unit sales over time, a line chart is recommended.
• For profit by month, a line chart is also effective for representing data over time.
• Formatting Charts:
• Add a chart title by going to “Design” -> “Add Chart Elements” -> “Chart Title” -> “Above Chart”.
• Remove field buttons on the chart to clean it up. You can do this by right-clicking on a field button and selecting “Hide All Field Buttons on Chart”.
• Remove legends if they are unnecessary, such as a “Total” legend.
• Currency/Number Formatting: Format values in pivot tables to currency or remove decimal places as needed.
• Sorting Data: For better readability, you can sort data in pivot tables (e.g., from most profitable to least profitable for markets and cookie types).

Assembling the Dashboard

• Moving Charts: After formatting, copy each pivot chart (Control + C) and paste it (Control + V) onto your main dashboard sheet.
• Positioning: You can position charts on the dashboard by selecting them and pressing the Alt key while dragging to snap them into different positions, which helps with organization.
• Alignment: Use alignment tools under the “Shape Format” tab to align charts (e.g., align to top, align to left) to ensure everything looks organized.
• Dimensions: You can also specify the exact height and width of charts under the “Format” tab to ensure consistency.

Making the Dashboard Interactive

To make the dashboard dynamic and interactive, you can insert slicers and timelines.

• Timelines:
• Select one of the pivot charts, go to “PivotChart Analyze,” and select “Insert Timeline”.
• Choose the “Date” field for the timeline.
• Slicers:
• Select a pivot table, go to “PivotChart Analyze,” and select “Insert Slicer”.
• Choose fields like “Country” and “Product” to quickly filter data.
• Clean Up Slicers: Right-click on a slicer, go to “Slicer Settings,” and turn off the “Display Header” to remove unnecessary text like “country” or “product”.
• Resize Slicers: Resize slicers to fit the items, and ensure they have the same width for a consistent look.
• Connecting Slicers/Timelines: Crucially, connect your slicers and timelines to all relevant pivot tables.
• Right-click on a slicer (or timeline), go to “Report Connections,” and check the boxes for all the pivot tables you want that slicer to control. This ensures that when you interact with a slicer, all related views on your dashboard update.
• To select multiple items with a slicer, click on the first item and then drag your mouse down.

Updating and Refining

• Refreshing Data: When new data comes in, you can update your dashboard easily.
• Paste the new data into the original data table. Because it’s formatted as an Excel table, the new data is automatically incorporated.
• Go back to your dashboard, click into one of the pivot charts, go to “PivotChart Analyze,” and select “Refresh” -> “Refresh All“. This will update your dashboard to account for the latest data.
• Visual Refinements:
• Go to the “View” tab and turn off gridlines and headings to make the sheet look more like a proper dashboard.
• Hide separate sheets for pivot tables and data by selecting them, right-clicking, and choosing “Hide”. This ensures that when shared, people only see the dashboard.
• Change the color scheme/themes by going to the “Page Layout” tab and selecting from different themes. You can also browse for or save custom themes.

Sharing the Dashboard

• To share the dashboard, click on the share icon in the top right-hand corner.
• You can decide if people can edit or only view the sheet.
• You can select specific people to share it with or copy a link to share.

Excel Dashboards: Dynamic Data Analysis and Visualization

Building dashboards in Microsoft Excel is presented as a very easy way to conduct data analysis and showcase important information to an organization. This approach allows for quick insights into business questions, such as those related to profit or unit sales.

Here’s a discussion of data analysis as described in the sources:

• Purpose of Analysis: The primary goal of building these dashboards is to answer various business questions. For example, the “Kevin Cookie Company” aims to understand its profit and unit sales.
• Data Preparation: A crucial first step for data analysis is to ensure your raw data is in a table format within Excel. This is achieved by selecting any cell in your data and pressing Control + T or by going to the “Insert” tab and choosing “Table”. Ensuring the table has headers is important. This tabular format is ideal for creating pivot tables.
• Core Analytical Tools – Pivot Tables: The foundation of the dashboard and its analytical capabilities are pivot tables.
• To create a pivot table, you click within your data table, go to the “Insert” tab, and select “PivotTable”.
• It is recommended to place each pivot table on a new worksheet.
• For a dashboard with multiple charts, you will likely need multiple pivot tables, which can be easily duplicated by copying existing pivot table sheets.
• Visualizing Data – Pivot Charts: Once pivot tables are set up, pivot charts are inserted to visually represent the analyzed data.
• To insert a chart, select a pivot table, go to “PivotTable Analyze,” and choose “PivotChart”.
• Common chart types for specific analyses mentioned include:
• Stacked column charts for analyzing profit by country and cookie, which help visualize larger items at the bottom and smaller ones at the top for easier consumption.
• Line charts are recommended for analyzing unit sales over time and profit by month, as they are effective for representing data trends.
• Charts can be formatted by adding titles, removing unnecessary field buttons to clean up the visual, and sometimes legends.
• Refining and Organizing Analysis:
• Formatting Values: Values in pivot tables can be formatted to currency or have decimal places removed for clarity.
• Sorting Data: For better readability and insight, data within pivot tables can be sorted, for example, from most profitable to least profitable.
• Dashboard Assembly: After creation and formatting, charts are copied and pasted onto a central dashboard sheet. They can be positioned and aligned using tools like the Alt key for snapping to cells, or “Shape Format” alignment tools for precise organization. Exact dimensions of charts can also be set for consistency.
• Interactive Analysis – Slicers and Timelines: To make the dashboard dynamic and facilitate deeper data analysis, slicers and timelines are inserted.
• Timelines are used for filtering data based on date fields.
• Slicers allow for quick filtering by categorical fields like “Country” and “Product”.
• To enhance interactivity, slicers and timelines must be connected to all relevant pivot tables. This ensures that when a filter is applied (e.g., selecting a specific country or product, or a time range), all charts on the dashboard update simultaneously to reflect the filtered data. This makes it very easy to look at data how you want to view it.
• Updating Analysis with New Data: The dashboard is designed to automatically update to reflect the latest data. New data can be pasted directly into the original Excel table, and then the dashboard can be refreshed by selecting “Refresh All” under “PivotChart Analyze”.
• Presenting the Analysis: For a clean, professional look, gridlines and headings can be turned off on the dashboard sheet. The separate sheets containing pivot tables and raw data can also be hidden, so only the dashboard is visible when shared. Color schemes and themes can be customized to match organizational branding.
• Sharing Insights: The completed dashboard can be easily shared with others in an organization, with options to allow editing or only viewing.

Excel Dashboard Charting: A Comprehensive Guide

Charting data is a crucial aspect of building interactive dashboards in Microsoft Excel, allowing you to visually represent key information and gain insights.

Here’s a detailed discussion on charting data for dashboards:

• Foundation for Charts: Pivot Tables
• Before creating charts, your raw data must be in a table format. This tabular format is highly effective for generating pivot tables, which serve as the data source for your charts.
• Dashboards typically require multiple pivot tables to support different charts and views. These can be created on separate worksheets and then copied to provide the necessary foundations.
• Data within pivot tables should be formatted (e.g., currency, no decimals) and sorted (e.g., most profitable to least profitable) for better readability before charting.
• Inserting Pivot Charts
• Once your pivot table is prepared, you can insert a chart by clicking into the pivot table, navigating to the “PivotTable Analyze” tab, and selecting “PivotChart”.
• This opens the “insert chart dialog” where you select the desired chart type.
• Recommended Chart Types for Specific Analyses
• Stacked Column Charts: These are well-suited for visualizing data like “profit by country and cookie”. They help in consuming data by arranging the largest items at the bottom and the smallest at the top.
• Line Charts: These are highly effective for representing data trends over time. They are recommended for analyses such as “unit sales over time” and “profit by month”.
• Formatting Charts for Dashboard Presentation
• Add Chart Titles: To ensure clarity, add a descriptive title to each chart (e.g., “Profit by market and cookie type”, “units sold each month”, “profit by month”). This can be done via the “Design” tab under “Add Chart Elements”.
• Remove Field Buttons: To clean up the chart and remove clutter, right-click on any field button on the chart and select “Hide All Field Buttons on Chart”. This makes the dashboard appear more professional.
• Remove Legends: Unnecessary legends, such as a “Total” legend, can also be removed to simplify the visual.
• Sizing and Positioning:
• After formatting, charts are copied (Control + C) and pasted (Control + V) onto your main dashboard sheet.
• The Alt key can be used while dragging a chart to snap it into different positions, aiding in organization.
• For precise arrangement, use alignment tools under the “Shape Format” tab (e.g., “align to top,” “align to left”).
• You can also specify the exact height and width of charts under the “Format” tab to ensure visual consistency across the dashboard.
• Making Charts Interactive with Slicers and Timelines
• To transform a static dashboard into an interactive one, insert slicers and a timeline.
• Timelines are used for filtering data based on dates.
• Slicers allow for quick filtering by categorical fields like “Country” and “Product”.
• Crucially, connect your slicers and timelines to all relevant pivot tables on your dashboard. This ensures that when a filter is applied (e.g., selecting a specific country or date range), all charts on the dashboard update simultaneously, providing dynamic insights. This makes it very easy to look at data how you want to view it.
• Updating Charts with New Data
• Dashboards are designed to automatically reflect the latest data. When new data becomes available, simply paste it into the original Excel data table. Since the data is in a table format, it automatically incorporates the new information.
• To update the charts, click into one of the pivot charts on your dashboard, go to the “PivotChart Analyze” tab, and select “Refresh All”. Your dashboard and all its charts will then reflect the most current data.

Excel Slicers: Dynamic Dashboard Data Filtering

Interactive slicers are a key component in creating dynamic and interactive dashboards in Microsoft Excel. They allow users to quickly filter data and gain insights into various business questions, such as profit or unit sales.

Here’s a discussion of interactive slicers:

• Purpose and Functionality: Slicers provide a user-friendly way to filter data based on specific fields. For instance, they can be used to quickly view data for a specific country or product type. This makes it “very easy to look at my data how I want to view it”.
• Integration with Pivot Tables and Charts:
• Slicers are inserted from the “PivotChart Analyze” tab, which indicates their direct connection to the underlying pivot tables and charts.
• To ensure the entire dashboard updates dynamically, slicers must be connected to all relevant pivot tables. If a slicer is not connected, other views on the dashboard will not update when a filter is applied. This connection is established by right-clicking on the slicer and selecting “Report Connections,” then checking all the pivot tables you want it to control.
• Types of Slicers:
• Categorical Slicers: These are used for filtering by categorical fields like “Country” or “Product”.
• Timelines: Specifically designed for filtering data based on date fields. A timeline slicer is inserted similarly to a regular slicer, by selecting a date field within the “timeline prompt”.
• Inserting Slicers:

1. Select one of the pivot charts on your dashboard.
2. Go to the “PivotChart Analyze” tab in the Excel ribbon.
3. Select “Insert Slicers” (or “Insert Timeline” for date-based filtering).
4. In the dialog box, choose the fields you wish to filter by, such as “Country” and “Product”.
5. Click “OK” to insert the slicers onto your dashboard.

• Formatting Slicers for Dashboard Presentation:
• Removing Headers: For a cleaner look, headers like “Country” or “Product” can be removed if they are self-evident. This is done by right-clicking on the slicer, selecting “Slicer Settings,” and unchecking “Display header”.
• Resizing and Positioning: Slicers can be resized to fit their content and positioned on the dashboard for optimal organization. For consistency, their exact width can be set.
• Enhancing Interactivity: Once connected to all pivot tables, selecting an item on a slicer (e.g., “India” for country, or “Chocolate Chip” for product) will simultaneously update all linked charts on the dashboard to reflect the filtered data. Users can also select multiple items by clicking and dragging their mouse.

In essence, interactive slicers, combined with timelines, transform a static dashboard into a powerful tool for dynamic data exploration, allowing users to customize their view of the data in real-time.

Sharing Excel Dashboards: A Guide to Dissemination

Sharing a Microsoft Excel dashboard is the final, crucial step in disseminating the insights gained from your data analysis to other members of your organization. Once you have built your interactive dashboard, complete with pivot tables, various charts, and dynamic slicers, it’s designed to be easily shared so that others can benefit from its analytical capabilities.

Here’s a discussion of dashboard sharing based on the sources:

• Purpose of Sharing: The primary goal of sharing the dashboard is to allow “other people in your organization” to “get insights from your dashboard”. This ensures that the important information showcased on the dashboard can be used effectively for business understanding and decision-making.
• Ease of Sharing: The process of sharing is described as “very easy”. You don’t need any special add-ins or VBA knowledge to set up or share these dashboards.
• Preparation for Sharing: Before sharing, it’s recommended to refine the dashboard’s appearance for a more professional look. This involves:
• Turning off gridlines and headings on the dashboard sheet itself to make it look less like a typical Excel spreadsheet and more like a dedicated dashboard.
• Hiding the underlying sheets that contain the raw data and the individual pivot tables. By selecting these sheets, right-clicking, and choosing “hide,” you ensure that when the dashboard is shared, “people will only see the dashboard that you pulled together”. This streamlines the user experience and focuses attention solely on the interactive visualizations.
• Customizing the color scheme/theme to match your organization’s branding or personal preference, which can be done via the “Page Layout” tab under “themes”.
• Methods and Options for Sharing:
• You can initiate the sharing process by clicking on the “share icon” located in the “top right-hand corner” of Excel.
• This action opens a “share dialog” which provides flexibility in how you share and with whom.
• Permission Levels: You have the ability to “decide whether people can edit the sheet or if it’s only view only”. This is important for controlling data integrity and ensuring that the shared version is consumed as intended.
• Recipient Selection: Within the share dialog, you can “select people you want to share it with”.
• Sharing via Link: Alternatively, for broader distribution, you can “simply copy a link and then share it out”.

In summary, Excel’s interactive dashboards are designed for easy and controlled sharing, enabling organizations to quickly disseminate data insights and empower collaborative data exploration.

By Amjad Izhar
Contact: amjad.izhar@gmail.com
https://amjadizhar.blog

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