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Amazon QuickSight: Complete Introduction to BI Dashboards

Name: Amazon QuickSight: Complete Introduction to BI Dashboards
Rating: 4.6 (4186 reviews)

Load, analyze and visualize your data in Amazon QuickSight, then publish interactive dashboards your team can use

Created byIan Littlejohn

Last updated 9/2026

English

English [Auto],Spanish [Auto],

What you'll learn

Load your own data into Amazon QuickSight and prepare it for analysis, including relationships between tables
Build tables and pivot tables, and choose the aggregation that answers the question you are asking
Create table calculations for percentages, running totals, rankings and difference-from comparisons
Track performance with KPI visuals and surface exceptions automatically with conditional formatting
Choose the right chart for the question - line, area, column, bar, pie and the specialist visuals
Control what your audience sees using text, numeric and date filters, controls, parameters and actions
Create calculated columns and measures using IFELSE, date functions and SUMIF
Build a dashboard, apply a theme, and publish and share it with the people who need it
Practise in every section with a practical activity and a completed walkthrough, using downloadable training data

Course content

15 sections • 77 lectures • 5h 28m total length

Introduction to the Course2:06
Meet your instructor and see what the course builds: Amazon QuickSight analyses - tables, pivot tables, KPIs, graphs, calculated fields and published dashboards.
About the Course1:23
How to get the best from the course: setting the video quality to full HD, changing the playback speed to suit you, and where to go for Udemy support and your certificate.
Getting Started with Amazon QuickSight3:35
Get started with Amazon QuickSight: signing up, the editions, and how datasets, analyses and dashboards fit together.
Download the Training Data Files0:03
Download the five training CSV files used through the course - the sales data, the second data set, the employee data, and the worksheet and master files.
Loading Data into QuickSight7:28
Load a CSV file into QuickSight as a dataset, check the field types, and open it in an analysis.
Overview of Amazon QuickSight4:47
Take a tour of Amazon QuickSight: the analysis canvas, the fields list, the visuals pane, and where filters, controls and parameters live.

Introduction to Tables0:58
What this section covers: building table visuals, sorting and formatting them, methods of aggregation, cross filtering, dates and conditional formatting.
Creating Tables8:44
Build your first table visual in QuickSight: drag fields into rows and values and see the aggregation QuickSight picks.
Sorting and Formatting8:03
Sort and format a table: column order, number formats and the styling that makes it readable.
Your turn: build the tables0:16
Your turn: build the tables the brief asks for from the sales data.
Walkthrough: the tables exercise5:39
Walkthrough of the tables exercise: adding the fields, sorting the result and formatting the columns.
Methods of Aggregation9:13
Change the method of aggregation on a field - sum, average, count, distinct count, minimum and maximum.
Your turn: use the methods of aggregation0:42
Your turn: use the methods of aggregation to answer the questions in the brief.
Walkthrough: the methods of aggregation exercise6:37
Walkthrough of the methods of aggregation exercise: setting each field's aggregation and checking the totals.
Cross Filtering6:17
Use cross filtering: click a value in one visual and watch the rest of the analysis filter to match.
Working with Dates3:58
Work with date fields in QuickSight: the date granularity, and how a table aggregates by day, month or year.
Conditional Formatting6:10
Add conditional formatting to a table so values that pass a threshold color themselves as the data changes.

Introduction to Pivot Tables and KPIs0:53
What this section covers: pivot tables, their aggregations and percentage calculations, and KPI visuals.
Create Pivot Tables5:47
Build a pivot table in QuickSight - fields on rows and columns, a measure in the values - and format it.
Methods of Aggregation in Pivot Tables1:51
Change the method of aggregation inside a pivot table so each measure summarizes the way you need.
Percentage Calculations8:01
Show pivot table values as a percentage - of the total, of the row or of the column - to turn figures into shares.
KPI Visualization11:06
Build a KPI visual for a headline number, with the comparison against a previous period and conditional formatting.
Your turn: build the KPI and pivot tables0:13
Your turn: build the KPI and pivot tables the brief asks for.
Walkthrough: the KPI and pivot tables exercise8:56
Walkthrough of the KPI and pivot tables exercise: laying out the visuals and setting the comparisons.

Introduction to Table Calculations0:28
What this section covers: table calculations - running totals, rankings and difference from calculations.
Running Totals and Rankings3:36
Add a running total and a rank to a table so each row shows its cumulative figure and its position.
Difference From Calculations6:37
Use difference from calculations to compare each row against a previous period, as a value or a percentage.

Introduction to Filters0:37
What this section covers: filters on text, numeric and date fields, and how they scope to a visual or the whole analysis.
Text Filters4:44
Filter a text field in QuickSight - a list of values, or a custom condition - and choose which visuals it applies to.
Numeric Filters4:58
Filter a numeric field by a range, a threshold or the top values.
Date Filters4:43
Filter a date field, including relative periods such as the last 30 days or year to date.
Your turn: filter the analysis0:32
Your turn: filter the analysis to answer the questions in the brief.
Walkthrough: the filters exercise7:37
Walkthrough of the filters exercise: applying each filter and setting its scope.

Introduction to Controls0:30
What this section covers: controls - the on screen filters that let a dashboard reader change what they see.
Text Controls6:24
Add a text control so readers can filter the analysis from a drop down rather than editing a filter.
Numeric Controls3:58
Add a numeric control, including a slider, so readers can filter by a range of values.
Date Controls7:17
Add a date control so readers can change the period the analysis covers.
Parameters and Actions8:32
Use parameters and actions to make an analysis interactive: a parameter holds the reader's choice, an action makes a click do something.

Introduction to Graph Visualizations0:52
What this section covers: line, area, column, bar and pie graphs, tooltips, and the other visual types.
Line Graphs12:39
Build a line graph over a date field and control the granularity of the trend.
Area Graphs3:53
Build an area graph, including the stacked version, to show how the parts of a total move over time.
Column and Bar Graphs7:45
Build column and bar graphs, sort them, and choose between the two for the question you are answering.
Tooltips2:54
Customize the tooltip on a visual so hovering shows the fields you choose rather than the default.
Your turn: build the visualizations0:13
Your turn: build the visualizations the brief asks for.
Walkthrough: the visualizations exercise5:39
Walkthrough of the visualizations exercise: building each graph, filtering it and setting the tooltips.
Pie Graph3:40
Build a pie or donut graph to show the split, and see when a bar graph tells the story better.
Other Graphs5:41
A tour of the other visuals - heat map, tree map, word cloud and the narrative insight - and when each fits.

Introduction to Dashboards1:11
What this section covers: turning an analysis into a published dashboard, sharing it, and applying a theme.
Your turn: create the sales report dashboard0:19
Your turn: create the sales report dashboard from the training data.
Walkthrough: the sales report dashboard exercise12:00
Walkthrough of the sales report dashboard exercise: laying out the KPIs, graphs and controls, then publishing.
Publish and Share Dashboards5:21
Publish an analysis as a dashboard and share it: who can see it, what they can change, and how filters carry over.
Work with Themes3:55
Apply a theme in QuickSight so colors, fonts and spacing stay consistent across the analysis.

Introduction to Calculations1:02
What this section covers: calculated fields - creating columns, date calculations, IFELSE and SUMIF.
Creating a Calculated Column9:06
Create a calculated column in QuickSight: write the expression, name the field and use it like any other.
Date Calculated Fields6:11
Build date calculated fields to pull out parts of a date or work out the gap between two dates.
IFELSE Function3:41
Use the IFELSE function to test a condition and return one value or another, the basis of banding and flags.
Your turn: create calculated columns0:23
Your turn: create the calculated columns the brief asks for.
Walkthrough: the calculated columns exercise6:28
Walkthrough of the calculated columns exercise: writing each expression and checking it in a visual.

Introduction to Measures1:14
What this section covers: measures - calculations evaluated across the analysis rather than stored row by row.
Creating Measures4:29
Create a measure in QuickSight and see how it behaves differently from a calculated column.
Your turn: create measures0:23
Your turn: create the measures the brief asks for.
Walkthrough: the measures exercise5:19
Walkthrough of the measures exercise: writing each measure and checking it in a table.
SUMIF Function4:59
Use the SUMIF function to total only the rows that meet a condition, without filtering the visual.

Requirements

An AWS account and access to Amazon QuickSight, which AWS now presents as Quick Sight inside Amazon Quick Suite. The free trial gives you every feature for 30 days for up to 25 users, which is more than enough to complete this course.
After the trial you need an Author license to build the analyses and dashboards taught here, currently $24 per user per month. People who only view what you publish need a Reader license at $3 per user per month. AWS sets these prices and can change them, so check the Amazon QuickSight pricing page before you enroll.
No prior business intelligence experience is needed. If you have used Excel PivotTables, Power BI or Data Studio you will move faster, but none of them is required.
QuickSight runs in a web browser, so any computer with an internet connection will do. There is nothing to install.

Description

This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

Every lesson in this course is written, created and recorded by me. AI is used only to help produce supporting images and written materials around the lessons.

Which product sold best last quarter, and is that still true this month? Which region is slipping? Where is the margin actually coming from?

Those are the questions your business asks. Amazon QuickSight is where you answer them - a cloud-based business intelligence service that connects to the data your organization already holds and turns it into analyses, reports and dashboards other people can use, with nothing to install.

This course takes you from an empty QuickSight account to a published, shared dashboard built from your own data. You will:

Load your own data and prepare it for analysis, including relationships between tables
Build tables and pivot tables, and choose the aggregation that answers the question you are asking
Write table calculations for percentages, running totals, rankings and difference-from comparisons
Track performance with KPI visuals and surface exceptions with conditional formatting
Choose the right chart for the question - line, area, column, bar, pie and the specialist visuals
Control what your audience sees with filters, controls, parameters and actions
Create calculated columns and measures using IFELSE, date functions and SUMIF
Build a dashboard, apply a theme, and publish and share it with the people who need it

Every section has a practical activity with a completed walkthrough, and the training data files download in the first lesson, so you are building in QuickSight within the first few minutes rather than watching someone else do it.

I teach the analysis, not the tool. Every topic starts with a business question a manager actually asks, then shows you how to answer it. That is why what you learn here transfers - the QuickSight buttons are the easy part.

More than 16,000 students have taken this course and rated it 4.6 from over 4,000 ratings.

A NOTE ON THE NAME

In October 2025 AWS reorganized QuickSight into Amazon Quick Suite. The features you use in this course now sit under "Quick Sight" in the navigation pane. Nothing you learn here changes - your analyses, datasets and dashboards, the URLs and the permissions all work exactly as before - but the home page and the left-hand navigation are shown as they look today.

AWS also added generative AI features alongside it, Amazon Q and Quick chat. This course does not cover them, and that is deliberate. They need an Author Pro license and an account-level fee that an organization buys rather than an individual, so most learners cannot switch them on even if they want to.

I teach the analysis that works on the license you actually have - and if your organization does turn Amazon Q on, you will get far more out of it for understanding the data model underneath.

ABOUT THE TRAINER

I have been training business people to work with data since 2008, and publishing on Udemy since 2013. I now have 16 live courses, more than 400,000 students and more than 139,000 reviews, at an average rating of 4.6.

My work is with business users rather than engineers. I teach the analysis - the question you are trying to answer and how to get to it - using the tools people already have: Microsoft Excel, Copilot in Excel, Microsoft Power BI, Data Studio and Amazon QuickSight.

By the end of this course you will have a QuickSight dashboard you built yourself, from data you loaded yourself, that you can share with your team. The training data files are waiting in the first section. Let's get started.

Who this course is for:

Business analysts, managers and data owners whose organization runs on AWS, and who need to turn data they already hold into reports other people will actually read
Excel, Power BI or Data Studio users whose employer has moved them onto QuickSight, who want the fastest route from "I know BI" to "I know this tool"
AWS engineers and administrators who can stand up the data but have never built the front end, and want a working dashboard rather than a theory course
Not for you if you are preparing for an AWS certification exam, or if you came looking for the generative AI features - this course teaches the analysis and the dashboard build, not Amazon Q
If you are choosing between my BI courses: this is the AWS one. Microsoft Power BI: Complete Introduction is the Microsoft route and Complete Introduction to Data Studio (Looker Studio) is the Google one. They teach the same analysis thinking on different tools, so take the one your employer uses.

Amazon QuickSight: Complete Introduction to BI Dashboards

What you'll learn

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Course content

Introduction6 lectures • 19min

Tables11 lectures • 57min

Pivot Tables and KPIs7 lectures • 37min

Table Calculations3 lectures • 11min

Filters6 lectures • 23min

Controls5 lectures • 27min

Graph Visualizations9 lectures • 43min

Dashboards5 lectures • 23min

Calculated Columns6 lectures • 27min

Measures5 lectures • 16min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: