Visualization of business data on BI platforms

2025/2026

Academic Year

ENG

Instruction in English

3

ECTS credits

Delivered at:

Department of Business Informatics and Operations Management

Course type:

Compulsory course

When:

1 year, 4 module

Instructor

Travin, Alexander

Course Syllabus

Abstract

The activity of any company implies the formation of a system of indicators of its work and their presentation in a visual and convenient for making managerial decisions. The aim of the course is to master the theoretical foundations and acquire practical skills in developing information and analytical dashboards. On the example of real cases the stages of creating such dashboards of different levels of complexity are considered: from the formation of requirements to their full technical implementation.

Learning Objectives

• The aim of the course is to teach students modern methods and tools of data visualization using BI platforms. Throughout the course, students will learn the key stages of working with data, including data preparation, data modelling, data visualisation and building interactive dashboards. This will help develop the skills necessary for effective data presentation and data-driven management decision-making.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Knowledge of principles and methodologies of data preparation for analysis (cleansing, transformation, integration)
• Knowledge of the basics of data modeling (Star and Snowflake schemas)
• Ability to apply various techniques of data preparation using Power Query tool
• Ability to create data models, set up links between tables
• Ability to write simple expressions in DAX query language to calculate indicators
• Knowledge of basic principles and stages of dashboard development
• The ability to select and use appropriate types of visualisation in order to draw conclusions for making data-based managerial decisions

Course Contents

• Course outline. Visualization of business data on BI platforms
• Data preparation
• Data modeling
• DAX (Data Analysis Expressions)
• Data vizualization
• Building dashboards

Assessment Elements

• Class participation and assignment
• Project
  The project is the element of the final assessment of the course in which students must: 1. Build a dashboard in Power BI based on the data provided for the analysis 2. Using the developed dashboard, prepare a presentation that reflects the company’s or business unit’s performance over the period, highlighting the problem areas. The project is carried out in groups of two or as an individual project. Form of defence: in-person presentation
• Final test
  Assessment takes place during the session, module 4. It is conducted offline in a computer class using Power BI Desktop. This form of control serves as a final exam. The exam consists of 10 practical tasks completed individually by students in Power BI. The tasks are divided into 3 sections: 1. Data loading and transformation (2–3 tasks) 2. DAX (2–3 tasks) 3. Data visualization (4–6 tasks)

Interim Assessment

• 2025/2026 4th module
  0.55 * Final test + 0.15 * Class participation and assignment + 0.3 * Project

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

• Power BI: моделирование на экспертном уровне : построение оптимальных моделей данных с использованием Power BI, Бахши, С., 2022
• Бахши, С. Power BI: моделирование на экспертном уровне / С. Бахши , перевод с английского А. Ю. Гинько. — Москва : ДМК Пресс, 2022. — 490 с. — ISBN 978-5-97060-906-4. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/314864 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.
• Говори на языке диаграмм: Пособие по визуальным коммуникациям, Желязны, Д., 2009
• Феррари, А. Подробное руководство по DAX / А. Феррари, М. Руссо , перевод с английского А. Ю. Гинько. — Москва : ДМК Пресс, 2021. — 776 с. — ISBN 978-5-97060-859-3. — Текст : электронный // Лань : электронно-библиотечная система. — URL: https://e.lanbook.com/book/190738 (дата обращения: 00.00.0000). — Режим доступа: для авториз. пользователей.

Recommended Additional Bibliography

• Данные: визуализируй, расскажи, используй. Сторителлинг в аналитике, Нафлик, К. Н., 2020

Authors

• Орлова Екатерина Дмитриевна