Overview
Power BI is a business analysis service offered by Microsoft and comes with an extensive range of data visualization options and business intelligence capabilities. With its simple and intuitive user interface, users of all levels are able to build their own reports and dashboards from one or more datasets.
Currently, there are five different tools for creating map-based data visualizations on Power BI.
Process
There are five standard map visualization options in Power BI Desktop. Click on the bullet points to find out more information about each tool:
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Comparison
The table below brings together the main features, requirements and pros and cons of each map tool. For further information, take a look at the document Summary of the options for map visual in Power BI.
Basic Map | Filled Map | Shape Map | ArcGIS Maps | Mapbox | |
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Visualization type | Simple or sliced points. | Filled polygons. | Filled polygons. | All visualizations supported by ArcGIS Online. | Points, heatmap, cluster map, cloropleth map (for certain locations). |
Basemap options | Bing | Bing | No basemap. | Anything from the ArcGIS Online collection. | Standard or custom basemaps hosted on Mapbox. |
Data pre-requisites | GPS points or known location names. | Known location names. | TopoJSON file of the location in question. | Publically available map on ArcGIS Online. | GPS points or known location names. |
Can be used in any location? | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (with points) No (with polygons) |
Main advantage(s) | Easy to use with GPS-tagged data. | Easy to use when dealing with known location names. | Allows using your own TopoJSON file. | Versatile visualization options provided by ArcGIS Online. Many map control options, such as possibility to control the zoom level. | Additional visualizations and possibility to use your own custom basemaps created on Mapbox. |
Main disadvantage(s) | Supports points only, background maps limited to Bing (not aligned with the UN mapping standards). | Not compatible with the majority of OCHA operations countries. Background maps limited to Bing (not aligned with the UN mapping standards). | Requires preparation of the TopoJSON file and matching the location names, PCodes or other unique identifiers with those in the other datasets. No background map. | Not possible to use in dashboards published or embedded online. No access to private ArcGIS Online content. | Polygon display possible for limited locations only (Global level maps, states of the USA). Limited map control options, such as no possibility to control the zoom level. |
Ideal use case | When a simple point map is sufficient. | When a simple polygon map is sufficient. | Need to use polygons for a single area. | When sophisticated, multi-layer maps are required and the dashboard will not be published or embedded online for public consumption. | When custom basemaps are necessary. Default option for the OCHA dashboards. |
Tips
The FIS team strongly recommends using Mapbox Visual as the principal mapping tool for point data. Unlike the default map application driven by Bing, Mapbox allows use of custom basemaps for the visualizations. The use of custom basemaps ensures a maximum alignment both with the UN mapping standards and the OCHA visual guidelines.
The Shape Map tool is effective for creating choropleth maps with your own vector file in a TopoJSON format. Use Mapshaper to convert your Shapefile or GeoJSON file into TopoJSON. This tool also allows simplifying the map, thus reducing the file size. Make sure that your map data file has at least one common attribute with the rest of the data in your dashboard. This will allow connecting the map to the other datasets and thus, enable full interaction between the map and the other visuals.
Sometimes you may want to disable the zoom, pan or other interactions in your map element. However, out of the five mapping tools, only ArcGIS Maps for Power BI offers a built-in feature to restrict the interactions. However, one way to disable the map interaction is to use the "Shapes" tool to create a transparent square on the top of the map. This way, the map will become a "view only" feature, with no possibility to control the rest of the dashboard from the map.
Outputs/Resources
Guidance
OCHA_Getting_started_PowerBI.pdf has useful section on page 19 - Mapping - using the Mapbox visual.