Page patterns

Section catalogue

Sections are the reusable content regions a page pattern is composed from. Design each one once, then reuse it across patterns so users recognise the layout instantly.

Implementation
Component mapping legend
  • Native Power BI — Out-of-the-box visual or control. Always the first choice.
  • Nudge BI — Nudge BI styling or template on top of a native visual — the native visual still does the work.
  • Power UI — Power UI theme / layout kit applied to native visuals; no new rendering engine.
  • Custom / avoid — Custom or third-party visual. Only with a written justification; never to copy a mock-up.

Header section

header

Identify the report, the page and the analytical question the page answers, plus the refresh/as-of context.

Possible layouts
  • • Single full-width bar
  • • Title left / actions right
  • • Title + subtitle + status chip
Recommended components
  • Text box (title, subtitle)Native Power BI
  • Card (as-of date measure)Native Power BI
  • Header template / theme stylingPower UIunderneath: Text box + shapes with a theme JSON
When to use

On every report page. Consistent position, height and typography across all pages.

Example — “Retail performance — Overview · Week 1–13 · Data as of Monday 06:00”

Context / breadcrumb section

context

Show the inherited filter context and where the user is in the page flow, with a way back.

Possible layouts
  • • Chip row under the header
  • • Breadcrumb + back button
  • • Applied-filters read-out
Recommended components
  • Back buttonNative Power BI
  • Card / text box with selected values (DAX SELECTEDVALUE)Native Power BI
  • Filter chipsNudge BIunderneath: Text boxes or a card visual bound to a measure
When to use

On any page reached by drillthrough or navigation, and on pages with hidden filter panes.

Example — Overview › Fresh › Bakery — [Region: East ×] [Week 9–13 ×]

Filter section

filters

Let the user set the global page context before reading anything else.

Possible layouts
  • • Left rail
  • • Top bar
  • • Collapsible filter pane (bookmark toggle)
Recommended components
  • Slicer (list, dropdown, tile)Native Power BI
  • Slicer (between / relative date)Native Power BI
  • Sync slicers across pagesNative Power BI
  • Styled slicer panelPower UIunderneath: Native slicers + shapes on a theme
When to use

Whenever the page must be usable for more than one scope. Keep position identical on every page.

Example — Region, Store, Department, Week range — one consistent rail, with a Reset filters bookmark.

KPI summary section

kpi

Answer “how are we doing?” in one glance with 3–5 measures and their comparison base.

Possible layouts
  • • Row of 3–5 cards
  • • Card + variance chip
  • • Card grid 2×3 for scorecards
Recommended components
  • Card / new Card visualNative Power BI
  • KPI visual (value, target, trend)Native Power BI
  • Multi-row cardNative Power BI
  • Designed KPI cardNudge BIunderneath: Card visual + measure-driven conditional formatting
When to use

On orientation, monitoring and analysis pages. Never more than five KPIs side by side.

Example — Revenue €4.2M · vs Budget −3.1% · vs PY +5.4% · Margin 24.8%

Trend section

trend

Show development over time and whether the current value is normal or exceptional.

Possible layouts
  • • Full-width line
  • • Line + reference line
  • • Small multiples per category
Recommended components
  • Line chart / Area chartNative Power BI
  • Line and stacked column (combo)Native Power BI
  • Analytics pane reference / trend lineNative Power BI
  • Small multiplesNative Power BI
When to use

Whenever the question contains “development”, “since”, “still” or “again”.

Example — Revenue per week with a budget reference line and previous-year comparison line.

Comparison section

comparison

Put two or more scopes side by side on the same measure and scale.

Possible layouts
  • • Two mirrored visuals
  • • Clustered bar
  • • Comparison matrix with delta column
Recommended components
  • Clustered bar / column chartNative Power BI
  • Matrix with variance columnsNative Power BI
  • Scatter chart (two measures)Native Power BI
When to use

Store vs benchmark, this year vs last year, department vs department, actual vs budget.

Example — Store vs regional benchmark on revenue per transaction, ranked.

Driver / contribution section

driver

Explain a difference: which parts move the total up or down and by how much.

Possible layouts
  • • Waterfall
  • • Ranked positive/negative bars
  • • Contribution treemap
Recommended components
  • Waterfall chartNative Power BI
  • Bar chart sorted by variance measureNative Power BI
  • Key influencers / decomposition treeNative Power BI
  • Deneb variance chart (IBCS)Custom / avoidunderneath: Only when a native bar/waterfall cannot express the notation
When to use

On variance and root-cause pages, after the KPI has shown that a gap exists.

Example — Budget → Fresh −€120k → Grocery +€48k → Non-food −€31k → Actual.

Breakdown section

breakdown

Split the total across one dimension so the user can pick where to look next.

Possible layouts
  • • Ranked bar
  • • Matrix with hierarchy
  • • Treemap for share
Recommended components
  • Bar chart with drill-down hierarchyNative Power BI
  • Matrix with expand/collapseNative Power BI
  • TreemapNative Power BI
When to use

After the KPI and trend sections, as the bridge into detail.

Example — Revenue by department, drill to product group, then to article.

Exception section

exceptions

Surface only the rows that break a rule or threshold, ranked by severity.

Possible layouts
  • • Ranked list
  • • Table with conditional formatting
  • • Card + count + list
Recommended components
  • Table with conditional formatting / iconsNative Power BI
  • Card with exception count measureNative Power BI
  • Visual-level Top N filterNative Power BI
When to use

Monitoring and attention pages; never as a substitute for a full analysis page.

Example — 12 stores below 95% of budget — ranked by absolute gap.

Detail table section

detail

Give the exact records or the full grain behind everything above.

Possible layouts
  • • Full-width table
  • • Matrix with subtotals
  • • Table + column chooser bookmark
Recommended components
  • Table visualNative Power BI
  • Matrix visual with subtotalsNative Power BI
  • Export data / Show as tableNative Power BI
When to use

On detail, drillthrough, operational-table and search pages.

Example — Article-level table with revenue, budget, variance and shrinkage, sortable and exportable.

Supporting context section

supporting

Add attributes, definitions or secondary measures that qualify the main answer.

Possible layouts
  • • Attribute list
  • • Small card cluster
  • • Text box with definition
Recommended components
  • Multi-row cardNative Power BI
  • Text box / smart narrativeNative Power BI
  • Report page tooltipNative Power BI
When to use

On detail pages and wherever a measure needs a definition to be read correctly.

Example — Store format, opening date, m², manager — next to the KPI summary.

Navigation / action section

navigation

Move the user to the next analytical step while preserving context.

Possible layouts
  • • Button row bottom-right
  • • Page navigator tabs
  • • Right-click drillthrough only
Recommended components
  • Button with page navigation actionNative Power BI
  • Page navigatorNative Power BI
  • Drillthrough page + back buttonNative Power BI
  • Custom navigation barCustom / avoidunderneath: Page navigator covers almost every case
When to use

On every page that is not a dead end. Keep the buttons in the same place on all pages.

Example — “Open performance analysis →” carrying the selected department as a drillthrough filter.