Visualization Overview

The Visualization feature in Vision Reporting is a visual data analysis tool with interactive graphics. Visualization enables you to display key metric values for your projects, project plans, and opportunities in a graphical format to help you analyze performance, determine trends, and identify risks to your business. You can bring together metrics with different scales and time periods, and you can quickly switch the focus from one metric to another.

The graphical representations of metric values in Visualization are called visualization maps. Each map is a set of rectangular blocks, and each block in a map represents an individual project, project plan, or opportunity, or a group of projects, plans, or opportunities. The relative sizes of the blocks indicate the relative values of one metric, and the colors of the blocks indicate the relative values of a second metric. You display visualization maps on your computer in the same way that you preview other reports.

Visualization is a separately priced optional reporting feature.

How to Activate Visualization

If you purchased Vision Performance Management, Visualization is activated when you activate Vision Performance Management. To do that, display the Module Activation dialog box (Configuration > Module Activation) and, in the Password field next to Performance Management, enter the password that Deltek issued to you when you purchased Vision Performance Management.

If you have Visualization but have not purchased the Performance Management module and you need to enter the Visualization password in the Module Activation dialog box, enter the Visualization password in the Password field next to Visualization.

Visualization Example

Suppose you want to create a visualization map that enables you to compare both expected total compensation and overall profitability for a set of projects. To do that, you assign the size attribute to the Compensation metric and the color attribute to the Profit-JTD metric. Vision then displays a map that consists of a set of blocks, and each block represents a project.

The larger blocks represent the projects with higher compensation amounts, and smaller blocks represent projects with lower compensation amounts. If you use the default colors and select the option to center the color shading on zero profit, the blocks of profitable projects are shades of blue, while those for unprofitable projects are shades of red. Within the set of profitable projects, the blocks for projects with the most profit are a deeper blue, and those for projects with less profit are paler shades of blue. In this example, the block for a project that is breaking even is white.

Types of Visualizations

You can create visualization maps for projects, project plans, and opportunities.

How to Generate Visualization Maps

You generate a visualization map in much the same way that you generate other Vision reports. For example, to generate a visualization map for projects, you click Reporting > Visualization, open the Options dialog box for Project Visualizations to specify report options, open the Project Lookup dialog box to select the projects to include, and click Preview to display the visualization map.

As you can for other reports, you can save sets of options and record selection criteria for visualization maps, and you can save visualization maps as favorites. However, you cannot print visualization maps.

Visualization Favorites

When you create a visualization map that you want to use on an ongoing basis, save it as a favorite. A favorite provides the following benefits:

• You can generate the visualization map again without having to set up the options and record selection criteria again.

• You can make the visualization map available from your Vision Dashboard.

• If as you work with the map, you create a version of it that you want to preserve, you can save it as a set of saved options from the Visualization window. You can then switch from one set of saved options for that map to another while you work with the map in the Visualization window. You cannot save and load sets of options in the Visualization window when you work with maps that are not based on a favorite.

• When you close a visualization map that is a favorite, Vision automatically saves that version of the map as a set of saved options named <Last Used>. Each time you generate the map, Vision displays the last-used version of it. Vision also saves the original default version as <Default>, and you can load that version in the Visualization window the same way that you load any other set of saved options.

Visualization Maps on Your Dashboard

If you save a visualization map as a favorite, you can add a link to it on your Vision Dashboard so you can display it with one click, or you can add the map itself as a Web dashpart and display it on the Dashboard.

Grouping Options

On the Grouping tab of the Options dialog box for a type of Visualization, you select the grouping categories for the visualization map.

If you select only one grouping category, the visualization map displays a block for each instance of that category. For example, if you select the Group check box for Project Manager Number, the visualization map displays a block for each project manager. The metric values associated with each block are summary values for that project manager’s projects.

If you select more than one grouping category in the Options dialog box, you can switch from one of the grouping categories to another while you view the visualization map. Because of this, it is recommended that you select all of the grouping categories that you may want to use, so they are readily available when you display the visualization map.

You can also create group hierarchies for visualization maps. One way to do this is to specify inner groups on the Grouping tab of the Options dialog box. For example, if you normally want to display project blocks grouped by project manager, you can select Group for Project Manager Name and select Project Short Name in Inner Group. When you generate a visualization map for this grouping hierarchy, Vision displays the project blocks for each manager within a larger project manager block.

A second way to create group hierarchies is to build them in the Visualization window while you view a visualization map. To illustrate, suppose you select Project Manager Name and Project Short Name as individual grouping categories on the Grouping tab, rather than linking them as in the previous example. You generate the visualization map with Project Manager Name as the grouping category, so the map contains a block for each project manager. This is a one-level map. It has no grouping hierarchy. To regenerate the map with project blocks grouped by project manager, you right-click on the Project Manager Name field displayed to the right of the Grouping field, click Add Category on the pop-up menu, and select Project Short Name. Vision then regenerates the map to display project blocks grouped within project manager blocks.

If you set up a grouping hierarchy as you work with a map in the Visualization window and you want to save that version of the map so you can display it again without having to reconstruct the hierarchy, click the Save Settings button. When you work with that visualization map in the future, you can click the Load Settings button and apply those saved settings. (The option to save and load settings in the Visualization window is only available for visualization maps that you have saved as a favorite and if Show slider and load setting control is checked in the Options dialog box for the map.)

Metrics

On the Metrics tab of the Options dialog box for a type of Visualization, you select the metrics that you want available for analysis in the visualization map. Then, in the Visualization window, you can select from a list of the metrics that you selected on the Metrics tab and regenerate the map.

When you select a metric on the Metrics tab, you indicate if you want to be able to represent it by the size of blocks, the color of blocks, both size and color, or neither. You also indicate if you want to include the value for the metric in the information tool tip that Vision displays when you position the mouse pointer on a block.

In Color in the Visualization window, you can select any of the metrics for which you selected Color By on the Metrics tab. In Size, you can select any of the metrics for which you selected Size By. If you do not select Color By, Size By, or Tool Tip for a metric on the Metrics tab, it is not included in the visualization map.

For metrics that you want to represent with color, you also use the Metrics tab of the Options dialog box to select the colors used for high values and those used for low values. (By default, Vision uses blue for high values, red for low values, and white for values near the center of the color shading range.) If you display the sliders when you generate the visualization map, you can also use the color slider to change the colors while you work with the map in the Visualization window.

In addition to the standard metrics available for a type of visualization, you can add user-defined fields and calculated values and select those from the list of available metrics. If you use a user-defined field in a calculated value metric, you must also select Color By, Size By, or Tool Tip for that user-defined field so that it is included among the available metrics for the visualization map.

Data Security

Security settings that control record access and report grouping access also apply to Visualization. In addition, the Labor Cost Rates/Amounts option on the Accounting tab of the Roles form (Configuration > Security > Roles) determines your access to labor cost rates and amounts when you generate visualization maps. If this option is not set to Full Access for your role, Vision does not display certain labor cost-related metric values on the visualization map.

Drill Down from Visualization Maps

The blocks in a visualization map represent summarized values. If you want to drill down from a visualization map to review the supporting detail for those values, select the report to which you want to drill down on the Drill Down Reports tab of the Options dialog box and select the set of saved options you want Vision to use when it displays that report. You can select up to five drill-down reports for one visualization map. These can actually be different reports, or they can be the same report with different sets of report options.

In the Visualization window, you right-click on the block from which you want to drill down and select the drill-down report from the pop-up menu. Vision displays the drill-down report in a separate window.

Work with Visualization Maps

With a visualization map displayed in the Visualization window, you can do the following:

• Open information tool tips to review the values of all metrics for which you selected the Tool Tip check box on the Metrics tab of the Options dialog box.

• Change the metrics that are represented by block color and size.

• Change the grouping categories and grouping hierarchy.

• Collapse and expand outer groups to hide or display the inner groups

• Filter the map to include only selected records.

• Drill down to supporting detail.

• Change the ranges of metric values included on the map.

• Change the high, middle, and low colors.

• Adjust the range to which the color gradient applies.

• Select from three map styles.

• Zoom in and out.

• Magnify and demagnify.

• Preserve versions of the map as saved sets of options.

• Use a saved set of options to regenerate a map.