Creating Searchable, Personalized Cards in Power BI
Table of Contents
Introduction
Displaying employee data in an appealing and effective manner has always been challenging with Power BI , particularly if you desire a clean interface with searchable, dynamic charts for every individual.
In this article, we will explain how to use Power BI’s new card visual (March 2025 or later) to display valuable information about different employees, making use of dropdown slicers, text search, and improved conditional formatting.
The outcome?
A beautiful, useful dashboard where you can enter a name like Eric or Alison, and see immediately personalized, nicely formatted cards, different pictures, colors, and layouts that update automatically.
Prerequisites
- Power BI Desktop Version: March 2025 or later
- Data including at least:
- Employee Name
- Office
- Position
- ID
- Image URL
- The new card visual (not the classic one)
- Access to conditional formatting options for visuals
Key Idea: Searchable Cards That Reflect Who You’re Viewing
One of the largest UX enhancements added in Power BI (2025) is the ability of visuals to respond dynamically to filter context, including individual-level filtering by slicers or search.
In this example, we used:
- A dropdown slicer for filtering by Office and Position.
- A text search slicer (new type of slicer) to search by name or last name (e.g., Eric, Alison
Pro Tip: If the Text search slicer is not available in your visuals, then go to setting and options -> preview features and enable it.
- Dynamic card visuals that react to slicers and display only the chosen employees.
- Conditional formatting to alter color and images depending on the employee being displayed.
Setting the Stage: What Makes These Cards Unique?
The new card visual allows you to:
- Format each card individually using measures.
- Use images, small multiples, and custom colors.
- Recognize filter context like never before.
This gives us the power to show a different image and layout, even if two employees have the same role or work in the same office.
Slicers That Drive the Experience
We included the following slicers to filter the dashboard:
- Office – Dropdown slicer (e.g., Berlin, Munich).
- Position – Dropdown slicer (e.g., Amazon Sales Specialist, eBay Sales Specialist etc.).
- Employee Name – Text search slicer (a newer slicer type).
When you enter “Eric” in the name slicer, his card shows up. Enter “Alison”, and her card shows up shows up with a distinctive header background, customized image, and contact information. You can also filter two employees (Eric and Alison), and Power BI shows both cards side by side with the small multiple layouts.
Showing Key Information for Each Employee
Each card should display:
- Full Name
- Job Title
- Office
- Employee ID
- Contact Info
- Profile Image
This layout is compact but comprehensive, perfect for internal HR dashboards, team directories, or access portals.
The best part: when a name is searched, only relevant cards appear, no clutter, no scrolling.
Real Example Walkthrough
Suppose you are working with a sales team and need speedy access to individual KPIs. With this dashboard:
- You type “Alison” — her card shows up with her image.
- You add “Claire” — now her card also appears, next to Alison.
- Filter to “Hamburg” office only — cards instantly narrow to employees in that location.
- Change Position to Amazon Sales Specialist, only Amazon Sales Specialist are displayed.
Experience is quick, clean, and custom.
Pro Tips for Replicating This
- Use SELECTEDVALUE() to identify individual names in DAX.
- Use SWITCH(TRUE()) for dynamic formatting logic.
- keep a lookup table of images (e.g., URL mapped to Employee Name).
- Keep layout simple and readable, avoid overcrowding with small multiples.
- Test on both desktop and mobile layouts.
Conditional Formatting Measure (for Background Color)
Let’s look at an example.
Here’s a sample DAX measure we used to color the header conditionally:
CF Test =
SWITCH (
TRUE (),
SELECTEDVALUE ( Employee[FullName] ) = “Alison Hill”, “#CCE5FF”,
SELECTEDVALUE ( Employee[FullName] ) = “Claire White”, “#D9D9D9”,
“#F0F0F0”
)
This measure checks the filter context. If the name matches Alison, the card header turns light blue. If Claire turns gray. This simple technique wasn’t supported before 2025 due to limited filter context recognition.
We then applied this to the card’s header background color via the Format pane.
Why This Matters
Before this update, card visuals couldn’t dynamically detect filter context in such depth. Now, the exact identity of the record can influence:
- Color
- Text
- Image
- Visibility
This makes personalization easier than ever.
Conclusion
March 2025 release of Power BI is a milestone in how we are creating searchable, personalized dashboards. With new card visual, advanced conditional formatting, and more intelligent slicers, we can now build a dashboard that feels like an app, fast, tailored, and visually rich.
Whether you’re managing people, products, or departments, these techniques will take your Power BI design to the next level.
FAQs
You require Power BI Desktop March 2025 or newer. Previous versions don’t support the advanced card visuals, filter context-based conditional formatting, or dynamic small multiples behavior.
The dashboard features a text search slicer where you can enter the name, last name, or ID of an employee. As you enter (e.g., “Eric” or “Alison”), the appropriate cards dynamically show up.
Yes! One of the most significant 2025 improvements is that you can now use DAX-based conditional formatting to have various background colors, header styles, or images for different people being looked at in the filter context.
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