Introduction
Last week’s bump chart reminded me of one of our early challenges from 2021, where David turned a ribbon chart into a bump chart. We’ve done other bump chart challenges over the years, so give them a try if you haven’t already.
This made me curious about trends in chart selection in our challenges. So I scraped the WoW challenges from the website and listed all data visualizations used in each challenge.
It might be no surprise to you that the bar chart is the most used visualization type across challenges from 2021 through last week. And that is even after I split out column charts, 100% stacked bar charts, diverging stacked bar charts, Gantt charts, bullet charts, waterfall charts, and some others into their own categories. My list ignores UI elements like slicers and buttons because I consider them navigation and selection elements. Below is the dashboard I created.
This one is a little more effort than the single-visual challenges, but I’m hoping we can have some fun with it. You can copy my design exactly, but the requirements give you some design freedom. I’m excited to see what you come up with!
Dataset
The dataset is a single spreadsheet found on Github at https://github.com/Workout-Wednesday/data/blob/main/2026/Workout_Wednesday_PowerBI_Challenges_2021-2026.xlsx.
Requirements
- Import the data and shape it to support the required visuals in the report. (Hint: There are multiple ways to do this, but I used Power Query to create a table that included one row per chart type per challenge).
- Create a row of cards showing interesting statistics found in the data. Each card should have a title/label, a value, and a small chart for context. You can add additional details as you see fit. You can copy my choices of statistics and design, or you can come up with your own. Use whichever Power BI visual best suits your needs.
- Create a visual (chart type of your choice) that shows the count of challenges split by number of chart types used in the challenge.
- Create a timeline that shows when a new chart type was introduced. Use the chart type and design of your choice. (I used Deneb, but that is not a requirement.)
- Create a visual (chart type of your choice) that shows chart type usage (based upon count of challenges) by year. Feel free to limit it to a top N chart for aesthetics or readability.
- Create a visual (chart type of your choice) that shows which chart types are commonly used together in challenges. Feel free to limit it to a top N chart for aesthetics or readability.
Bonus: Try creating the report using an AI agent. Microsoft has released a report authoring skill (in preview as of this challenge being posted). Data Goblins also has a free report authoring skill.
Share
After you finish your workout, share on BlueSky or LinkedIn using the hashtags #WOW2026 and #PowerBI, and tag @MMarie, @shan_gsd, @KerryKolosko (on BlueSky).