Reporting in LogicNets Assessment Framework applications

Introduction

In the LogicNets Assessment Framework there are multiple ways to present information back to the user. The central observation panel is where questions are posed and responses collected, and in many situations the Designer can provide sufficient information here for users to make the best selection. But what if there is a body of information available to help the user make the best selection? How can answers be summarized, or key information echoed back to always present context on screen? What if a simple yes/no question can lead to a broad set of information, articles, and links for the user to access. How can this information be given to the user to consume later, after they have left the application?

The LogicNets Assessment Framework can offer solutions to the above, and the rest of this article outlines the various methods available to the Designer and tips and tricks for using these techniques.

“Real Estate“

The LogicNets Assessment Framework has the following areas to work with in terms of presenting info back to the user, and each one is discussed in terms of pros/cons and configuration options below:

• Report Panel (also known as the Echo Back screen)
• Info Panel (next to the Report tab,or can be a pop-out screen)
• On screen Report (accessed via the Report button in the top bar)
• Print to PDF* (link provided by default at top of On Screen report)
  *separate license required)

 

 

Report Panel

This is most often used to echo back answers provided, and is set up to present lines of caption/response using the report-item part node. Some of the good and not-so-good uses of the Smartzone are bulleted below,

• Show caption and answer from any variable captured on the left side
• Recap key info from the assessment to show all the time
• Showing conclustions triggered by combinations of answers
• Limited formatting to show different sections

 

• Displaying images/videos
• Showing paragraph-long conclusions to multiple questions
• Showing information that only a subset of users would need (e.g. intructions for new users)

 

Example Report (taken from Showcase Q&A Project)

Tips and Tricks - Basics

• To place introductory text at the start this can be set in the framework settings in “Report Intro”
• The first heading under the Report caption is the title that is set on the logicnet details page
• Each logicnet in the /logicnets/reports folder will generate content. The order of the logicnets in the folder dictates the order of text on screen
• Use the report-item extensively with the following features
• Use “Show Always” to display an entire report form that fills in as the user answers questions
• Use “Only show when value present” to display the report scope grow as the user answers questions. (Note that with this setting, you don’t need to use a rule to check if an answer has been provided – no answer = nothing on screen; answer and recap appears)
• Use display “captions” if the values are codes or not human readable (e.g. display the caption “The sky is blue” instead of the answer option value “blue” in the report)
• Use the caption where an answer needs a preamble, or leave the caption blank and just display the chosen answer option
• The postfix can be used to add an additional note
  • Add <br> to start a new line before adding additional note text”
• Use report-title part for section title on the Report panel (it brings in some CSS to create a section header
• Use report-text to include any descriptive text.
  • Put a rule in front to display the text only if certain answers have been given.
  • Check the HTML checkbox for access to various style choices word by word

Tips and Tricks - Advanced

 

• Only recap answers to the questions being asked on the current tab
• Set up a logicnet for each “section” of recapping answers
• Use a rule at the top of each report net
  tab_aktie = [name of left side logicnet]

 

• Use collapsible sections to allow the user to hide/show different sections of (more verbose) recaps (see Collapsible Sections on support.logicnets.com)

 

Configuration Choices

Report tab caption (Framework settings) – to choose a different title than “Report”

Report Intro (Framework settings) – for a preamble text regardless of answers provided

Width of panel (CSS section3 and section4 determine screen split)

Hide report tab (Framework settings) – will remove this tab from the right side

 

Info Panel

This is most often used to provide Help notes to guide the user in answering a particular question. The content is created in the /resources/content folder in the Designer, OR via the KnowledgeCenter. This content can be displayed as part of the right side panel (either automatically, or on user action) or as a pop-up window. The information can be “attached” to the observation page title, a specific question or a specific answer choice.

Some of the good and not-so-good uses of the Info Panel are bulleted below,

• Showing notes on how to answer a question (e.g. things to consider, explanation of acronyms)
• Providing additional information about EACH answer choice
• Providing URL links to public or internal websites and resources
• Providing instructions for new users
• Displaying relevant images/videos
• Displaying answer choices (the content itself is static)
• Showing information that is deemed a critical part of any output

 

Example Info Panel – right side                    

 

 

Example Info Panel – popup

Tips and Tricks - Basics

• The “name” you provide when creating a content resource is helpful when allocating this to a node – it does not show on screen
• When copying information in from external Document Editors like Microsoft Word, there is often hidden styling attached. Use the Paste from Word icon to filter this out, or just use a simple editor like Notepad as the middle step – paste from Word to Notes to LogicNets to remove all styling.
• When creating links, also choose “Open in New Window” to insure user can get back to the LogicNets Assessment Framework

 

Tips and Tricks - Advanced

• Use the HTML Editor button to organize content with any custom DIVs.
• Images
• Images are displayed in their full size by default. After uploading, go to the HTML tab and find the src img tag. Add width=95% so the image will expand to fit the window (or set a width constraint in px)
• When uploading an image, also upload a 2^nd time with hyperlink option checked to allow the user to see the image on screen, but also download it (e.g. for display in full screen mode)
• Video
  • Mp4 videos can be directly linked (v7.4 on) but better is to provide the vimeo link to allow the user to watch in full screen

Configuration Choices

Info tab caption (Framework settings) – to choose a different title than “Information”

Auto show info (Framework settings) – will always show the Info tab over the Report tab unless the user actively selects the Report tab

Show info in Popup (Framework settings) – will deploy the popup mechanism when Help icon clicked

Pin info on click (Framework settings) – fixes the info on screen when user clicks on Help (otherwise when Hover is removed, Report panel will return

Hide info tab (Framework settings) – will remove this tab from the right side

 

On Screen Report, Print to PDF

The on-screen report gives the Designer User a way to generate a different recap of the assessment instead of a copy of the right-side Report panel, and the PDF option can be acquired to allow the user to retrieve PDF copy of the on screen report either during the session, or at any point in future when this is deployed with a Starter App.

By default the on-screen report will replicate the right side Report tab output, but there are better uses for this real estate and the LogicNets Designer can model an entirely different type of output to show here.

Some of the good and not-so-good uses of the On Screen Report with PDF are bulleted below,

• Showing a verbose report recapping a user’s answers with paragraphs of explanatory text
• Recapping answers with appropriate images, external links and references alongside
• Providing a DRAFT view of text that can be emailed back to the once they confirm
• Showing tabular data collected by the assessment (more space/formatting options)
• Showing a summary of ALL the inputs provided (especially if the Smartzone has been used to show only a subsection of the answers provided)
• Providing structured, formatted report output for printing, including cover page, logo, page numbering, etc. (PDF option required)
• Creating an archivable copy of the user choices
• Echoing back simple (yes/no) answer choices
• Replicating the Smartzone report exactly
• Providing information only relevant to a subset of users (like new user instructions)

 

On Screen Report                                                   

 

Example PDF

 

Tips and Tricks - Basics

• To run a completely diffferent logicnet for the On Screen report change the Framework Settings “report net”
• To Remove the Report button from the Navigation Bar, go to the top bar logicnet in the misc folder (ASF Template Standard) and remove it from the logicnet flow

 

Tips and Tricks - Advanced

 

• The ASF Template Standard has CSS such that the PDF cover page can be modelled in the reports folder, but does NOT display on the On Screen Report
• [CSS EXPERTS ONLY] To customize the styling of the PDF report, generate your On Screen report and then load the Assessment Report (HTML) into your browser. From here you can use F12 Developer Tools to add CSS. Finally copy your CSS back into the PDF CSS file (/resources/layout/css) and verify all the changes are in place.

 

Configuration Choices

Report net (Framework settings) – will this logicnet to generate the On Screen Report (instead of the logicnet(s) in the report folder