Why ‘Export to Excel’ Is the Biggest Red Flag in Power BI??

Read time: 2.5 minutes

How to Stop Being a "Spreadsheet Generation Machine"

1. Focus On Making Decisions Instead of Reports

If someone exports something, they want to know something that is not currently available in your dashboard.
Add:
→Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that clearly indicate if the performance is below or above target.
→Variability from target.
→Actable insights versus just pictures of data.

2. Eliminate the Need For "Offline Thinking"

Exporting happens because users want to do their own analysis on downloaded files, therefore fix this in Power BI by allowing for:
→Drilldown pages so the user can continue with the analysis.
→Smart filters so the user can group their data the way they want.
→Scenarios, views (different ways of looking at data).

Allow data exploration to be done in the application instead of outside it.

3. Eliminate the Lack of Certainty (This Is The Real Problem)

When people export, it may be because they lack trust in the data they see.
Fix this:
→Use a single version of the truth dataset
→Define performance metrics across the entire user base (this will eliminate multiple definitions of the same metric)
→Provide clear labels + definitions of metrics so users will have no doubt as to what they mean

No trust in the data = no user utilization of your dashboards.

4. Provide the Answer Instead of Just Presenting Data

Users do not want raw data, they are looking for clarity.
Add example:
→The revenue decreased by 12% in comparison to the previous month.
→3 reasons revenue decreased.

If they still need to export something to Excel, then you have not completed the required work.

5) Make Excel The Exception to The Normal Workflow

Exports should be the exception rather than the norm.
Set expectations for the end-users as follows:
→Use the dashboards primarily to make decisions.
→Consider Excel as the exception rather than the norm.

If users have developed a habit of using Excel, then using the dashboards becomes optional.

💡Key Takeaway: 

If you have completed an extensive Power BI report but have to convert it to Excel, it does not provide insight… it only adds more work.