Ardoq Discover was introduced and demoed at our Amplify 2022 event. This article covers some of the interesting questions from our attendees, and our responses.
Q: We use colors to identify manual interfaces, for example - but do you have any recommendations for helping color-blind people using Ardoq?
Ardoq supports web accessibility standards wherever possible. Most colors in the platform are user-defined, so you are able to make choices that will support the needs of your colleagues. Another approach could be to use varied line styles (e.g., solid line, dashed line) to distinguish between reference types more clearly. We continue to work on providing support and guidance to customers who need to make these choices.
Q: Is the MetaModel also democratized in Ardoq Discover?
Generally, we have tried to keep Ardoq Discover as intuitive as possible, avoiding the need for non-architect users to understand or manipulate the metamodel directly. The key focus is on viewpoints that support that roles or tasks without them needing to understand how they are constructed, so the autogenerated metamodel is not currently available in Ardoq Discover. However, if it is potentially useful and there is sufficient demand, we will consider it for future integration.
Q: How do you move from a high-level view to detail view in Ardoq Discover?
There are two main ways you can do this: The first is to have separate viewpoints representing high-level and detailed concepts and to navigate between them. For example, you could start with a high-level value chain and drill down to detailed processes by switching viewpoints; or start with business capabilities and the apps that realize them, then drill into an application integration map.
The other method is to use collapsible groups to hide or unhide detailed information in a view. For example, if you have those same business processes grouped within a value stream step of the same applications and their integrations grouped within business capabilities, then you can hide or review the detail by collapsing or expanding the groups.
Q: Are there plans to enable customers to choose a default viewpoint rather than the default view that comes up now? And is there a plan to allow customers to add custom fields to the existing default view?
Yes! These features have been requested by customers and are planned for development. We’ll send an update once they’re ready to deploy.
Q: Is it possible to add advanced analytics on top of the "data" in Ardoq Discover? For example, applying a model to see the top connected applications of a portfolio.
Absolutely! This is already possible. You can use Ardoq’s calculated field function to calculate the most-connected apps. This data can then be consumed into dashboards and visualizations - for example, a pie chart of the top connected apps, or by heat mapping them in an application integration visualization.
Q: Are there plans to make Ardoq Discover available in other languages, such as Norwegian and Danish?
It is in the plan, but probably won’t be available this year. However, many parts of the user interface have configurable labels - for example, viewpoint names and survey controls - all of which can be in your own language.
Q: Is it possible to put in a business process and see the data, people, systems that are being used for it in Ardooq Discover?
Yes, absolutely. This can be set up as a viewpoint in Ardoq Discover. You can find the data by searching for the process or you can find the process by searching for the data.
Q: When things are "relevant to me" it becomes intuitive, so is it possible to make viewpoints which match the user? e.g., if a viewpoint is set to "assets I own" then the list will look different depending on who uses it
This is already possible if you follow our recommended practice of modeling people as components in Ardoq and connecting them to other components (e.g., the applications they own, the technologies they’re an expert in, the initiatives they’re working on). If you’ve done that, then there are 2 ways in Ardoq Discover you can get that view:
Searching for that person in the search bar
Using a Broadcast to send them a Discover link that puts them at the center of the picture
We also have a personalized entry point on our development roadmap for Ardoq Discover that will enable you to automatically get to those views without the need to search or use Broadcasts.
Feel free to reach out to us if you have more questions about Ardoq Discover.