Creating a dashboard in Power BI typically refers to assembling a collection of visuals and metrics that provide an at-a-glance overview of business performance. However, it’s important to note that in Power BI terminology, a “dashboard” is a feature specific to the Power BI service (online) where you pin visuals from reports to a dashboard view for sharing and quick insights. In Power BI Desktop, the equivalent feature is creating a report, which can include multiple pages of visuals and charts.

Here’s how you can create an effective, dashboard-like report in Power BI Desktop, which can later be pinned as a dashboard in the Power BI service:

Step 1: Open Power BI Desktop

Start Power BI Desktop. If you don’t have it installed, download it from the Microsoft Store or Microsoft’s Power BI website.

Step 2: Load and Model Your Data

1. Get Data: Click on “Get Data” from the Home ribbon and choose your data source. Power BI Desktop supports a wide array of sources including files (like Excel), databases, cloud services, and more.
2. Load Data: Import the data into Power BI Desktop.
3. Model Data: Organize your data by creating relationships, measures, calculated columns, and tables as needed. Use the modeling tools to enhance your data’s structure and analytical capabilities.

Step 3: Create Visuals

1. Add Visuals: Click on the “Report” view (icon that looks like a bar chart in the left-hand bar). Use the visualizations pane to drag and drop different charts and visuals onto your report canvas.
2. Customize Visuals: For each visual, you can customize its fields, format, and general settings using the options in the visualization pane. Ensure that your visuals are clear and effectively communicate the data points you want to emphasize.

Step 4: Organize Your Report

1. Arrange Visuals: Move and resize the visuals to create a clean layout. Aim for a flow that matches how viewers should interpret the data.
2. Use Pages Wisely: If needed, add pages to your report to organize visuals into logical groups. You might want a page for financials, another for operations, etc.
3. Themes and Formatting: Apply themes from the “View” menu to quickly alter the color scheme and overall look. Use the formatting options to make your visuals cohesive and aligned with your corporate branding.

Step 5: Add Interactivity

1. Slicers: Add slicers to allow users to filter the data interactively. You can find slicers in the visualizations pane.
2. Tool Tips: Enhance visuals with tooltips that provide more information when hovered over.
3. Drillthrough: Set up drillthrough capabilities if you want users to be able to click on a visual and see detailed data on another page tailored to the context of what they clicked on.

Step 6: Save and Publish Your Report

1. Save Your Work: Regularly save your report by clicking on “File” and then “Save As.” Choose a location and give your file a name.
2. Publish: To share your dashboard-like report, you must publish it to the Power BI service. Click “Publish” on the Home ribbon, sign into your Power BI account, and select the workspace where you want to publish it.

Step 7: Create a Dashboard in Power BI Service

Once your report is in the Power BI service:

1. Pin Visuals to a New Dashboard: Click on the pin icon on top of a visual and select “New Dashboard” and name it. This creates a dashboard in the Power BI service where you can view and share your key visuals.

By following these steps, you can effectively create a comprehensive, dashboard-like report in Power BI Desktop, which can be later enhanced into an interactive dashboard in the Power BI service for widespread sharing and real-time data monitoring.