Guide section 39 of 55
Interaction design works differently
Power BI already contains an interaction model; designers need to understand it rather than invent one.
Cross-filter removes unrelated data from other visuals.
Select: Fresh Revenue by Department Fresh €420K ← selected Bakery €210K Grocery €340K ↓ trend becomes: Fresh revenue only
Cross-highlight preserves the full dataset and highlights the selected contribution. Microsoft distinguishes these behaviors explicitly, and report authors configure how visuals affect each other.
| User intent | Behavior to configure |
|---|---|
| "Show me only this" | Cross-filter |
| "Show me this in relation to the whole" | Cross-highlight |
| "This visual is a constant reference" | No interaction |
These should never be configured arbitrarily — decide per visual pair and document it.