The Visual Business Director (VBD) applet

When you open VBD, the pyGetConfigurationDetails activity under the Data-Decision-VBD-Configuration class gathers the information required to render VBD. This information (dimensions, properties, and KPIs) is retrieved from Interaction History and forms the basis for visualizing decision results and monitoring KPIs with a 3D graphical view of the different dimensions and KPIs, such as accept rate, conversion rate, average price, volume, number accepted, or number of processed responses.

Note: When you use the Chrome web browser to open VBD, VBD opens as an HTML client.

• Click the button on the top left corner of VBD to refresh the data.
• On the top right corner, buttons are available for zooming in/out, changing the position of VBD and setting it to default view.
• The context menu allows you to capture the current state of VBD to clipboard or file, save a view, and load a predefined view.
• Bar charts on the VBD's walls show the calculation for a single dimension and target values.
• Each line chart shows a different KPI over the current time period selected in the timeline. Clicking a chart makes the grid use the KPI. Double clicking allows you to change which KPI is displayed by the chart.
• Bars show the performance for a combination of two dimensions. Color saturation is applied based on the quantity below or above target and each bar provides a view of the statistics.
• VBD supports changing the dimensions displayed in the X (right) and Y (left) axis, using different data modes, displaying multiple grids, and filtering on different dimensions.

Dimensions

Together with KPIs, dimensions are used in VBD to construct the business view. The visualization of dimensions is determined by the dimension filter and the X/Y axis dialog.

Dimension Filter

The dimension filter enables defining customer interactions dynamically, using multiple dimensions. The filter works as a slider displaying the hierarchy of the different dimensions. The tree view shows the different levels up to the selected item. Use single (left) click selection to select or deselect levels. If the item is already part of the defined filter settings, it is deselected. Each dimension is displayed in a different color. The color saturation shows the proportion of selected items in the dimension's hierarchy.

X/Y Axis

You can configure how dimensions are displayed in the X and Y axis by double clicking the level displayed in the axis and using the set axis dialog to select a different dimension or level within the dimension. VBD reflects the changes when you confirm the new dimension/level selection in the set axis dialog. For example, you can perform time based analysis for outcome by setting the Y axis to outcome and setting the X Axis to the time period for showing customer behavior.

Y axis

1. Double click the axis label on the left.
2. Use the Set Y Axis dialog to change it to show All Outcomes.
3. Click OK.

X axis

1. Double click the axis label on the right.
2. Use the Set X Axis dialog to change it to show Day.
3. Click OK.

Customization

The description of the properties that represent the dimension determine the labels in VBD. If you want the dimension to display a different text (label), change the description of the corresponding property under Data-Decision-IH-Dimension-<DimensionName>.

It is also possible to customize how dimensions are displayed in VBD. The pySetupDimension activity under Data-Decision-VBD-DimensionDefinition can be circumstanced by dimension name.

You can override the pyLevels value list to define a different sequence of properties for a given dimension. Example:

• Circumstance pySetupDimension by property: when pyName is "Application".
• Use Property-Set to set the sequence of level in the application dimension to put the application information at the end of the sequence.
  • Set .pyLevels(1) to "pyInteration"
  • Set .pyLevels(2) to "pyStrategy"
  • Set .pyLevels(3) to "pyComponent"
  • Set .pyLevels(4) to "pyApplication"

You can set the default level to be displayed for a dimension by overriding the pyDefaultLevel property for a given dimension. For example:

• Circumstance pySetupDimension by property: when pyName is "Action".
• Use Property-Set to set the default level for the action dimension as group by setting .pyDefaultLevel to '"pyGroup".

Data Modes

The top part of the panel on the far right of the back wall of VBD provides the facilities for setting different data modes. Switch data modes by clicking the icon:

• Regular mode shows the source versus reference data sources.
• Reference mode shows the interaction history records corresponding to the time period selected in the Reference list.
• Delta mode provides the comparison between the Reference and Source data sources, allowing you to analyze their relative effects.

Timeline

The timeline is the interface that allows you to browse the recorded historical performance and the predicted future performance. This interface consists of timeline console and timeline display. Click the control buttons to hide or show the display and the console.

The console allows you to set the date settings for displaying data in VBD and select the data sources:

• From -  Use this option to select the start date for showing the data. The earliest date to be displayed is determined by the start date that is configured for that data source.
• To - Use it to select the end date for showing the data.
• Duration -Use it to display the duration between start and end dates, in days, hours, minutes, and seconds.
• Source - Use it to select the data source.
• Reference - Use it to select a data source that you want to use as reference.

Source and Reference display the data sources listed below.

• Actuals - MONTH: Use this option to compare Actuals to the data from the last month. For example, compare September 15 with August 15.
• Actuals - QUARTER: Use this option to compare Actuals to the data from the last quarter. For example, compare September 15 with June 15.
• Actuals - YEAR: Use this option to compare Actuals to the data from the last year. For example, compare September 15, 2012 with September 15, 2011.

The selected data sources are listed on the left. Each data view has a corresponding line showing when data is available. If present, data sources created in the process of executing interaction rules that write results to VBD are also available.

The two time sliders allow you to change the start and end date. The recommended method for changing the time span is by using the From/To selection in the timeline console, but you can also change it by dragging the vertical sliders or using the scroll buttons. When you do this, the timeline console reflects the changes.

Forecasting

VBD supports making future projections based on simulation data generated by running interaction rules that write results to VBD. To use this functionality, the customer sample used in forecasting is based on customer data. This data also needs to provide a table/view with the case ID column.

Multiple Grids

VBD supports adding multiple grids, each visualizing different aspects of the business strategy. Enabling multiple grids is done by using the + icon at the far right of the X axis.

After adding multiple grids, you can define filters for each individual grid using the facilities provided in the back wall. You can remove a grid by clicking Close on the top right corner of the back wall. The timeline selection remains common to all grids.

Related information

Open topic with navigation