Welcome to the Onyx Data December 2025 Challenge!

About ZoomCharts Mini Challenge

🏆 Main Prize: $300 Amazon Gift Card

ZoomCharts Mini Challenge is part of the global DataDNA – Dataset Challenge by Onyx Data, which unites 25K+ data enthusiasts worldwide, ranging from beginners to seasoned professionals, including Microsoft MVPs. Read more about the DataDNA challenge on the Onyx Data DataDNA website. Join the community on LinkedIn.

Why join ZoomCharts Mini Challenge?

1. Workshops & 1:1 Mentoring: Learn directly from experienced Power BI professionals through live workshops on report-building best practices, 1:1 mentoring sessions to review your report and get tailored advice.
2. Get Personal Feedback: Every participant receives detailed, personalized feedback on their report - a great opportunity to improve based on real input from seasoned analysts.
3. Free ZoomCharts Visuals License: All participants get a ZoomCharts Developer License (worth hundreds of dollars) that gives full access to the Drill Down PRO visuals library.

🏆 Prize: 

The creator of the best report submitted to the Mini Challenge will receive a $300 Amazon gift card. The ZoomCharts winner will be announced in a special live webinar session on December 19th, where we will review the Top 5 entries from the challenge.

Webinars

Learn more about ZoomCharts visuals & gain a knowledge advantage in the contest by joining the upcoming webinars! You'll also get the chance to your ask questions and get expert answers in the Q&A section.

Upcoming webinars

Analyzing Animal Shelter Operations in Power BI: Hands-On Workshop

3rd December, 2025

08:00 AM - EST

Interactive Power BI workshop on analyzing animal shelter operations, intake patterns, outcomes, and live-release trends with ZoomCharts and Onyx Data.

Learn more

Best Power BI Reports for Animal Shelter Operations: Challenge Winners Revealed

19th December, 2025

07:00 AM - EST

Watch expert reviews of the Top 5 Power BI dashboards from the Animal Shelter Operations Analytics Challenge with Onyx Data and see the winner announced.

Learn more

How to Participate in the Onyx Data DataDNA & ZoomCharts Mini Challenge

1. Register for the Challenge

• Register using the form above.

• Activate your free ZoomCharts Drill Down Visuals Developer License for Power BI.

• Download the challenge dataset from the Onyx Data DataDNA Main Challenge website here.

2. Build Your Report in Power BI

• Add your ZoomCharts license to Power BI Desktop
  (watch the setup video or read the step-by-step guide).

• Add ZoomCharts visuals from the Power BI visuals library or Microsoft Marketplace.

• Use the dataset to build a Power BI report that includes at least two (2) ZoomCharts Drill Down Visuals on one report page.

3. Improve Your Report and Learn New Skills

• Join the challenge workshop to learn how to use ZoomCharts visuals and the dataset.

• If you need help, book a free consultation with the ZoomCharts team.

• Browse past challenge submissions for inspiration and ideas.

4. Submit Your Challenge Entry

• Upload your report in .pbix format using the submission form on this page.

If your report does not meet the challenge requirements:
You will receive an email explaining what needs to be fixed. You can update your report and submit it again.

Validation timeline:

• Your report will be reviewed within 1–2 business days.

• Once validated, you will receive a Publish to Web link you can share publicly or add to your portfolio.

• You will also receive personalized feedback from the evaluation team within 1–2 business days.
  Use this to improve your report and resubmit before the deadline.

Note:
You can resubmit your entry as many times as needed before the final deadline.

5. Finalize Your Participation to Compete for Prizes

• Share a LinkedIn post showing your finished report (image, screenshot, or video).

• Tag @ZoomCharts and @OnyxData, and use the hashtags #dataDNA and #builtwithzoomcharts.

• After posting, submit the LinkedIn post link to the Onyx Data DataDNA Main Challenge to enter the prize competition.

• Follow both ZoomCharts and Onyx Data on LinkedIn.

6. Attend the Live Closing Webinar

• The ZoomCharts team reviews and analyzes the Top 5 Mini Challenge entries during live webinar.

• You will learn best practices, improvement tips, and see how others solved the challenge.

• The winner of the best report receives a $300 Amazon gift card from ZoomCharts.

Technical requirements

• Build your report using only Power BI
• The number of pages in the report is not limited
• At least one report page has to contain a minimum of 2 ZoomCharts Drill Down Visuals. See a practical guide on Drill Down Visuals here

Animal Shelter Operations Analytics Challenge

Dataset Overview & Business Use Case

In this challenge, you will analyze the Animal Shelter Intakes and Outcomes dataset from the City of Long Beach Animal Care Services. The dataset includes detailed information about each animal entering or leaving the shelter, such as species, intake type, condition, outcome type, and length of stay.

Your goal is to create a Power BI report that uncovers operational trends, improves understanding of live-release performance, and supports data-driven decisions related to shelter capacity, resource planning, and animal welfare outcomes.

This dataset allows you to analyze:

• How intake and outcome patterns evolve over time
• What drives successful outcomes (adoptions, returns to owner, transfers)
• Which animals face longer shelter stays or higher risk of non-live outcomes
• How intake sources and conditions influence workload and resource needs
• Opportunities for strategic improvements in operations and placement success

Your analysis should help the shelter and community partners understand where to focus strategic effort, improve placement success, and manage resources more effectively.

Questions to Guide Your Report

How do intake and outcome volumes change over time (month, season, day-of-week)?

How has the number of pet adoptions changed over the years?

What is the shelter’s live-release rate, and how has it trended?

Which types of pets are adopted most often?

Which species, age groups, or breed types have higher or lower live-release rates?

Do certain intake types or conditions lead to different outcomes?

What is the average length of stay, and how does it vary across different animal profiles or outcome types?

Which animals tend to stay the longest in the shelter, and what characteristics do they share?

Are there seasonal or day-of-week intake patterns that inform staffing or resource allocation?

Which intake sources contribute the largest volumes, and what does this imply for community outreach or prevention programs?

Are there animals that return to the shelter more than once, and what factors predict repeat intakes?

Which data-driven actions could most effectively improve save rates or reduce length of stay?

✨ Note: These questions are just starting points. You’re encouraged to explore the data in your own way and share any unexpected findings that could.

Judging criteria

Business users use reports to make data-driven decisions. That’s why reports are called effective if they enable users to drill down and filter data quickly and intuitively to find answers to any question they might have, and analyse data in all possible directions and dimensions.

Each report is evaluated based on three main criteria: intuitiveness, insightfulness, and interactivity. These factors ensure that the reports are not only accurate and functional, but also meet the target audience's needs and are ready to be presented to the end-users. 

1. Intuitive: How clear and easy it is to understand the report at a glance? (max 15 points)
   • Is the report visually appealing?
   • Choice of charts and visual elements
   • Does the report tell a story?
   • Is it not overwhelming to the user?
   • Choice of tooltips, titles, and legends
     
     
2. Interactive: How engaging and seamless is the report exploration and interaction with data? (max 15 points)
   • Clear navigation that allows user to explore the report
   • Use of slicers and other interactive elements
   • Smooth cross-chart integration
   • Is report optimized for touch devices?
   • Are tutorials and guiding elements helpful to the user?
     
     
3. Insightful: How accurate, complete, and meaningful is the data in driving decisions? (max 15 points)
   • Depth of analysis
   • Data cleaning and preparation
   • Does data show up accurately in the report?
   • Is report optimized for quicker loading time?
   • Does the report provide deeper exploration of data (drill-down)?

Dataset

My license

1:1 mentoring sessions

You can book a personal session with Senior Product Expert at ZoomCharts, Aivis Pavlovs, to gain practical knowledge about Drill Down Visuals and how they can be used to enhance data storytelling in a report.