Power BI - How to create a stunning Traffic Light visualization

Introduction

A traffic light visual is a powerful way to represent performance measures clearly and effectively🚦. While Power BI doesn’t include a built-in traffic light visual, you can easily create one with some creativity! Whether you are a beginner or an advanced user preparing for Microsoft Exam PL-300 (Power BI Data Analyst), learning how to build dynamic traffic lights will take your Power BI skills to the next level.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to create a traffic light visual that looks as follows:

Data

We have already loaded data from an Excel file into Power BI Desktop. There is the following table:

student: Contains student information.

Goal

Visualize the student performance by displaying the average credit points using a traffic light visual. The traffic light should switch colors based on the following rule:

• 🟢 Green: If the average credit points are above 80.
• 🟡 Yellow: If the average credit points are between 50 and 80.
• 🔴 Red: If the average credit points are below 50.

1) Create Table Visual

Insert a Table visual to display the student names and their average credit points.

Add the columns name and creditpoints to the table. For creditpoints set the calculcation to average.

The table looks as follows:

3) Import Traffic light image

Now, import an image of a traffic light with empty circles. Go to Image and upload a traffic light image.

Then the image will appear in the report:

4) Add Circle forms

Next, insert three circle shapes to represent red, yellow, and green lights.

Arrange them properly to align with the respective light positions.

4) Configure conditional Formatting of Circle forms

Now, configure the formatting to ensure that each circle has the appropriate color of a traffic light and that the light changes dynamically.