Why On-Object Editing in Power BI???

Curious about why Power BI introduced On-object editing? Rosie Levasseur joins us to explain why! We've come to love it and hope you give it a try.
Use on-object interaction with visuals in your report (preview)
learn.microsoft.com/power-bi/...
Roseanne Levasseur
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[@MohammadAli-pm6vt]

Just to respond to everyone, we have read all your feedback, and we really appreciate the hard truth and will make the necessary adjustments to not degrade the experience. We will follow up in the coming month. Thanks (Mo, Product owner for PBI Desktop)

[@GuyInACube]

Thanks for commenting Mo! Everyone should consider Mo and Rosie as the source of truth on this topic.

[@christappan]

The hard truth is that this entire approach degrades the experience, not just that more things need to be fixed before it becomes default. Developers have been asking for months that this not become default, but no one from Microsoft ever responds. There is no way to implement this as default without degrading the experience.

[@Dummydummy-sw8yf]

I have been using Power BI since it was launched and have seen it evolve, change, update. I have adapted all the changes to the UI, icons, colors, terminologies (which MS loves to do). But I have never resisted something as much as OOF. Its well intentioned but just doesn't work. Not what we, as users, asked for. The UX is worse than sleeping on a cactus bed. At least give us an option to not use it. Hope you listen. We all are providing feedback because we care. Appreciate all the work you do.

[@ChrisWagnerDatagod]

I tried, hard, for 2 months to use on object and I simply couldn't do what I needed to do. I sent in feedback and I am now not touching it until I hear from a broad group that it's now viable again. This is a big lesson for any developer. MVP HAS to meet people's minimum expectations.

[@powerbicoach4209]

Adam, near the end of the video you say, that "this is a signifanct one in terms of usability". At time being, it is the opposite. It seems like the Power BI team is trying to implement a feature that customers want, but it is designed in such a way that it is not currently usable. Sit down with a few users who use Power BI a lot and talk to them to find out what works and what can be improved.

[@hi55us2]

Still not sold on it. Takes much longer to author reports and the panel on the right take a lot more time to click back and forth. Having shortcut keys to toggle the panels would help, but still wouldn't be up to par with the old editing experience. I've been a BI developer for over 10 years and one of the reasons I prefer Power BI over Tableau is the authoring experience. If Power BI forces users to us on object editing I'll reconsider other tools in the future.

[@toma4528]

My OCD kicked in as soon as I heard it would be default experience. I hope that day never comes.

[@jjdlaa804]

Agreed! I do not like this feature.

[@hi55us2]

Yeah I've been using power bi since it launched and this is the worst change. One thing office for right is doing limited changes over the years to the basic authoring experience, Power BI needs to realize this.

[@elkolodj1]

Agree

[@kylec7973]

Some of the top highly voted "ideas" by the community are several years old and to see this backwards step in UI having so much effort poured in is borderline disrespectful. The forum thread for On Object has 600+ comments in 3 months detailing why this is a bad idea, yet the following month will be a rollout of more on object "features". This channel has helped me learn a lot over the years, but examples are usually shown in small scale and sometimes I think MSFT doesn't factor in how large and complex our Power BI projects are. Increase the # of clicks to perform actions by 2-5x is a punishment.

[@hankoswart8757]

The worst part of this experience is when trying to collapse a pane, it closes. It is super unintuitive. Collapsing a pane is now a two click event, or ctrl + click. Swap this around. Replace the "X" with a collapse icon and make the closing of panes a two click event rather.

[@rosieL55]

Have you tried clicking on the same icon in the pane switcher? That should collapse in one click. We have a video coming out next week on tips on how to configure on-object to how you prefer to work (moving the build menu back as a pane, showing panes side by side by default), please give that a watch.

[@Ide_AL]

there is a ctrl+click????? thank you, man!

[@RodrigoCalloni]

They picked a bad experience and made it worse because now we have 2 bad experiences and sometimes On object is just a fraction of the options and then you need to go to the old pane to finish it. My eyes at the end of the day are just tired of moving to so many places do configure. That said. RIGHT CLICK FORMAT is the solution

[@narayanawindenberger7396]

Number of issues I've noticed with the new on-object editing workflow: 1) it's finnicky to change the sequence of measures in a visual 2) the width of the on-visual measure navigator is too narrow, so if my measure names are long I have to hover over each one to see the full name 3) it takes forever to put together a quick troubleshooting table/matrix. With OOF, I need about 5 clicks per measure, so If I'm building a ten measure table visual, it's 50 clicks, vs 10 drag-and-drops from the field pane to the visuals field wells. It's even worse if I have to type the names for each measure (i.e. large model) because in the original Power Bi workflow, you can search once (i.e. show all "YTD" measures) and drag those measures into the visual. Here you have to do that search each time for each measure. 4) I can't move measures/columns between field wells (i.e. from Values to X-axis) I don't mind having the formatting options on the visual itself, but I think the data mapping is better off how it used to be.

[@GuyInACube]

Be sure to watch next week's video where Rosie goes through some nuggets for On-Object Editing. She's gonna show 9 different things. One of them will definitely make you happy. The last one I think folks will like. I'm curious as to your thoughts on that last item and if you feel that will help you out.

[@user-xc6qc7zz7y]

@@GuyInACube Did this ever happen? Never saw it...

[@user-xc6qc7zz7y]

@@GuyInACube Do you know that the way Microsoft is communicating on this is super irritating? You ask us to provide feedback on the Fabric Community site. Then we are automatically subscribed to see EVERY piece of bad feedback that comes in, and the total lack of response to critical feedback. No response from Microsoft except this clueless video. We get these emails in our inboxes EVERY day. We probably read the responses more than you do. We know how bad this is. Do you? Then you promise here that in a week you're going to tell us the magic formula that will finally help. So I leave my browser open to @GuyInACube, and check EVERY day. Is today the day that On-Object will finally make sense? Adam is promising, and I trust him. And a month later, still nothing. So I guess I should stop trusting Adam now too. You are totally destroying the Power BI brand over this feature. Is it worth it? Really? Either this is tied to something super strategic that we don't know about, or you are making a HUGE mistake. Maybe both. Please start over on this feature. Go through a real Alpha before you open Beta testing to the world. You are tying up a lot of resources on this that really need to be spent elsewhere. Move faster and get this done. Pull in an Excel developer who understands how to make this look like Office. But please be better on this. I'm ready to move on to another product because this is becoming toxic.

[@GuyInACube]

@@user-xc6qc7zz7yIt was pushed. The December updated has some new items targeted to customer feedback (which is out now). Working on a video for next week.

[@seazonegranec]

I tried it for a couple of days and I hate it. Had to go back.

[@jaapolsthoorn796]

I turned it on yesterday, and it's better than it was before, but damn, I just cant seem to get used to it. I keep losing sight of where to edit things. Closing = removing from the sidebar is not a good idea. Let me keep all the icons on the side (don't worry, I know what they all do), and let me open and close the bars as I see fit. Never close them all without me expressly asking one by one to close them. So far, I'm not a fan, it slows me down a lot :(

[@GuyInACube]

Of note, I gave Rosie the same feedback about the closing vs collapsing. She pointed out it's the same experience in Office. I get that. I'd personally love that collapsing a pane be the default instead of it disappearing. We have another video dropping next week with some nuggets that I wasn't even aware of. 9 items specifically. The last nugget in that video I think you will like the best. It will drop next Wednesday.

[@BITomS]

@@GuyInACube in principle I like the pane switcher, I can see what MS are trying to do. I think the closing v collapsing thing is really annoying though - given Rosie's stated aim of allowing users to personalise their own experience, it currently lacks some options as highlighted by @jaapolsthoorn796 (keep things where they are unless user is explicit and leave the icons in the pane switcher if they have been enabled).

[@mrpsb]

On object is so clunky and messy, Microsoft persisting with marketing videos to try and tell their userbase that they are wrong for not liking it rather than make an effort to rethink and redesign it is really starting to annoy me.

on object editing is terrible. And if you check the forum, there is nearly only negative feedback. I like features adding value. But using these OOE means: much more clicks, missing functionality, a lot of frustration. If this would be added additionally to existing ways to work, then I would say: OK. But if you turn on this feature you can't really work efficiently and effectively. Because the old way will be removed. Even such simple things like optional formatting is not supported. The columns are to small, and many other issues. It looks like a very early pre-alpha version. And it looks like Microsoft doesn't listen to their users, but someone just decided to bring this way to work into Power BI. I really like Power BI. It is the base of my business (I am an Microsoft BI architect and developer), but if I look at the way, how New features are promoted, I am afraid for my future.

[@hi55us2]

Same here, really hope it doesn't become the only way to author reports, absolute waste of time for Microsoft to have created this.

[@tatebowman2700]

Personally, I think the team needs to go back to the drawing board on this one. The #1 rule in software design is not to screw with what people know..and On-Object rips the rug completely out from under experienced users. Not only that, but key functionality is missing (forums are riddled with examples), and it’s not intuitive in the slightest. Also, why does everything in On-Object have like 5 more pixels of padding around everything?! It looks so rudimentary compared to … ahem … the other guys. It definitely cannot be considered a Pro reporting environment in its current state.

[@raulsanches3619]

tried it. didn't like it. went back to the old way with the panel

[@tlanza89]

Every time I turn on the new on-object formatting, I end up turning it off 10 minutes later. I went through this this every couple of months until I stopped trying altogether. There are too many clicks, I don't like it.

[@workstuff5253]

It would be great if the panes were able to float outside the desktop application and be moved to another monitor.

[@stevenpcopley]

There are some things that make sense to edit on the visual, like the title but the current implementation of on objects formatting is crazy bad. It should be easy have all the panes exposed, work consistently and have those be the same when the file is reopened. I give the oof a try with each new version and still wonder why Ms put effort into this area.

[@datavizuals]

Absolutley no one, anywhere, ever: "Make it more like Office" Microsoft: "Ok we'll make it more like Office" If your a Microsoft employee and proud of your work, dont be.

[@joeseroski1095]

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but when I go to add data fields, I can't see the entire name of the field in the on-object editor unless I hover. I can't expand it at all. I have some columns or measures that start with the same characters, and I have to hover over each one to figure out which one is the one I want. It takes up too much of my time.

[@rosieL55]

You can resize the build menu by dragging the edge! Resizing the second menu (data flyout) is coming for November. Check out the PBI blog from August on resizing. Another option would be to move the build menu back to the pane switcher and resize from there. Details on that are in the June blog.

[@GuyInACube]

Rosie tried sharing the links to the blogs but KZbin was overly aggressive 🤣 here they are. August 2023 blog on resizing: powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-august-2023-feature-summary/#post-24381-_Toc142989126 June 2023 Blog: powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/power-bi-june-2023-feature-summary/#post-23927-_Toc137015467

[@geoffmoten3509]

@@rosieL55 will it remember the size or does it have to be expanded EVERY time? Descriptive measure names are not short.

[@lopypop]

While all the reasoning makes sense, this feels like a huge step backwards for people that learned and liked the panels on the right

[@KerryKolosko]

It's nice to see Rosie 😊

[@GuyInACube]

She is an amazing person!

[@geoffmoten3509]

a full court press to put lipstick on the pig. literally no one wants or likes this. if they put 50% of that effort into refining the current visual design/reporting experience they will get huge kudos!

[@benhalicki9749]

Hey Adam, do you know if there are any plans to enhance Report Builder for paginated reports? It looks like MS are only implementing bug fixes, with new functionality added to the service only... still a big gap between the service and report builder tool though :/

[@wexwexexort]

To be honest, on object editing sucks.

[@bensacheri]

Thumbs up for the C= shirt!

[@GuyInACube]

haha BAM

[@guyblackburn51]

Hate it. Awful feature.

[@jaldaamol46]

Ob Object is amazing but I really struggled finding Drill through option. I switched back to default view then I setup the Drill Through. Anyone please suggest mw how can we find Drill Through in On Object view?

[@matthiask4602]

the "pane" experience , now I get it; I intuitivly understood "pain" experience lol

[@ChrisWagnerDatagod]

Holy @#%#@ it had better NOT become the default experience anytime soon. It's broke AF.

[@brandonm2099]

Need to be able to turn it off for users please. Sometimes you want an organization looking at the same defaults not everyone making a different report experience and not getting the insights your design provides. Some of these changes favor the new user to the detriment of the experienced user. Being able to switch these on and off both on the development and consumption side may help prevent that. So many examples of steps backwards and extra clicks for experienced people.

[@timothymathesii5838]

Honestly, they should take a note from Power Apps team and implement Power FX Into report layouts. Layouts and Visuals in BI are just plain horrible atm.

[@christappan]

This "feature" gives reason to move to other BI tools. Please listen to your customers.

[@peterjohannessen9928]

@guyinacube, what aboutDual screen? Like any good DAW or video editing you can have the project on one monitor and mixer/plugins or anything else at the other monitor. I would love this feature in Power BI because then I can really use my full screen for my report view and maybe the dax query, data model, bookmarks etc on my right monitor. If you go there this product would be a dream to work with! Give it an option to open things in a new window 😊

[@Brian_z]

The justification for this was just terrible. She did nothing to sell the new features. And the dev team botched it terribly. Our team has already agreed to abandon Power BI if on object goes default. This is the worst feature a product team has ever introduced to Power BI. Super embarrassing that they are still pushing this when the overwhelming feedback is negative.

[@GuyInACube]

Be sure to watch next week's video where Rosie goes through some nuggets for On-Object Editing. She's gonna show 9 different things. The last one I think folks will like. I'm curious as to your thoughts on that last item and if you feel that will help you out.

[@user-xc6qc7zz7y]

​@@GuyInACube Really? Wow. That is the most clueless and insensitive comment ever. Stop selling, and start listening. You are just digging a deeper hole and pissing off a community that used to love this product. Even if it works, you HAVE to start over on this. You HAVE to prove you listened and get us back on your side. If you try moving to a web-client-first model, expect Power BI to get dumped so fast you'll wonder what happened! We are trying to tell you. Your MVPs are trying to tell you. Tableau still has a real presence in my shop and this would bring it back in a heartbeat. I'm already joining Tableau learning sessions again, and I haven't touched it in over a year. What will it take for you to LISTEN????!!!!!

[@datasapien]

😅 terrible feature

[@Albert-zf8ct]

sorry guys - if you push this through many users will dissappear. you seem not to want to listen to your customer base - that is regrettable. And Adam....why we do not turn on this functionality, well if you have read the comments in the community you will know why.

[@GuyInACube]

Be sure to watch next week's video where Rosie goes through some nuggets for On-Object Editing. She's gonna show 9 different things. The last one I think folks will like. I'm curious as to your thoughts on that last item and if you feel that will help you out.

[@benhainsworth1247]

Not a fan! I don't think it's made a single thing better or easier. It's far less intuitive and I think you'll lose favor from existing users as well as reduce the number of newbies with this implementation. I changed back after giving it a shot for a few days.

[@cathrerinezetadrones3169]

Super cute features!

[@GuyInACube]

Thanks for sharing!

[@Tom-kp2lv]

The problem is the term "replace". Stop! just STOP REPLACING - additional options are fine, but if you force the use of OOE then you force me to strongly consider REPLACING the product

[@bobbytables6629]

Please no to this being the default, this is more clicks, clicks are bad, new users are always confused to any new product. From our own testing new users are finding this harder to use. Plus all the new documentation and videos that have to be redone not at Microsoft, but every organization. We should be able to charge you for these changes. I see no benefit with this change still. Trying to play game look I've opened all the panes is not a reason to make this switch. I feel that you could of easily solved panes by how they behave / snap. You are making a huge mistake.

[@GuyInACube]

Be sure to watch next week's video where Rosie goes through some nuggets for On-Object Editing. She's gonna show 9 different things. The last one I think folks will like. I'm curious as to your thoughts on that last item and if you feel that will help you out.

[@christappan]

@@GuyInACube if every person at our organization who develops PBI visuals has to watch specific videos to re-learn how to do things they already know how to do, it's by definition not a feature.

[@roberttyler2861]

Yep as others said here, i do not use On-Object Editing. hard pass.

[@geoffmoten3509]

Just checking....

[@armchaireng]

There's nothing wrong with the current experience. Noone becomes a Power BI developer from using "Personalized" visuals feature (this feature is another bad idea in itself). If they are incapable of figuring out which fields goes where then they should not be messing around in Power BI at all. On object is a clunky, slow and inefficient mess.

[@stevenstanford8618]

A more valuable use of Microsoft PBI team would fixing column totals rather than figuring ways to add more steps to a process.

[@pradeep5095]

Can't wait to see more updates on "On object interaction"

[@geoffmoten3509]

stirrer! 😂

[@Ide_AL]

On-Object Editing is a bit better now, especially with the minor few updates but the pane is still annoying af when using multiple panes. - I need the left click to OPEN a new pane not to SWITCH to another pane. - I need to collapse with one click, not to close it with one click. These are what everyone is complaining. If the right click (2 clicks) is used more than the left click (single click), you clearly are doing something wrong. Prioritizing the wrong command.

[@wwolfgful]

I really don’t like it. It is much better to drag and drop to fields, not clicking and adding one by one. For the formatting, it is very hard, that is what I think MS should focus on. More like excel, that would be much better.

[@shivangdalal9300]

Unpopular opinion, but I like it! I often work with people who haven’t used PowerBI as much but have used other MSFT products. This makes life easier to train them!

[@motoray1973]

Hard pass on this new on-object editing. Please don't remove the old way. I much prefer the old way. Have been a Power BI user since its inception.

[@federicopastor9400]

Sorry not to this!!

[@Tom-kp2lv]

What bothers me the most about this is that the community could not possibly be sending a clearer message that WE DO NOT WANT THIS, yet MS is forging ahead anyway. Why??? I have plenty of new things to learn, why are you insisting on forcing everyone to learn a new way of doing things that we already know, when no one is asking for it? To address an imagined desire for this on the part of people who don't use the product at the expense of the preference of the people who do?? Great strategy. MS needs to abandon this entire initiative and redirect the resources toward the outstanding requests. If you do not, you are demonstrating that you are both ignoring and disrespecting your users.

[@zintuplet]

it sucks. leave the ui alone.

[@sgp1986]

This is... Awful Rosie. Sorry...