22-25 April 2026

How to create truly user-friendly self-service Power BI semantic model

Proposed session for SQLBits 2026

TL; DR

Many organizations allow for self-service users to build their own reports based on a centrally maintained semantic model. Now we need to care about usability of the model because it is a user-facing end product, not your hidden backend any-more.

Session Details

More and more organizations embrace the need to democratize data and allow for self-service users to build their own reports based on a centrally maintained semantic model.
But what happens if you just drop for them a model created by just following modelling best practices? Yes, users will ignore it and return to SAP BW, direct export to excel, shaky Power Queries or whatever they were using last hundred of years.
Suddenly, we also need to care about usability because now semantic model is a user-facing end product, not your hidden backend any-more.
How to create easy navigation, DAX measures intuitive to find and use, and where it is better to break best-practices for the sake of the user?
This session is based on real life lessons and mistakes of developing a self-service semantic model for business users. You will see plenty of UX best practices in play!

3 things you'll get out of this session

They will know how to make self service model: 1. Easy to use for the end user 2. Easy to maintain and update for the developer 3. Also will learn how to apply UX principles to non-visual product