Working on a new report format
One of the things we will include in our next release (planned for the last week of April) is an updated report format. We have gotten a lot of feedback on the first version of the reports, and we hope that the next version will not only match the wish list but even take us a bit further along. In this blog post we will try to give you a little teaser of the upcoming version, but its also an opportunity for us to get some further feedback before we lock up next release.
The current version of AidHedge was released in February, and we have since had a lot if visits online and have also been out visit users both here in Sweden and in Rwanda. From these interactions with our users we have collected a series of feedback about the first report format. in addition to this we also had a lot of ambitions that really didn’t fit in when it was time to launch the first version. And, last but not least, we are working on adding some really cool functionality in the next release. So we really need an update of the report format!
Above is a little teaser of our “executive report”
We are completely reworking the format, dividing the report into an “executive report” that gives a more immediate overview a more detailed full report for those really interested in the “nitty gritty”.
This is one of the major inputs we had from users, that we needed to cater the report more clearly towards different users.
We have those more interested in how risk and results have, or could, affect the project implementation. They needed a less detailed and more summarized report. But on the other hand we had financial managers and staff, looking for more data. To cater these needs we will divide the next report format, which hopefully give everyone more of what they need.
Another thing we are working on is cutting out a lot of the text in the current version. We felt, and got heavy user confirmation on it, that it was difficult to relay the results in text. We tried, but since it was a clear fail we change.
The upcoming version will rely a lot more on not only visualizations, but a lot more data in different formats.
Our ambition is that it will enable us to not only provide more information, but do it in a way that is at the same time more condense and easier to understand. It would thus mean a great step ahead!
Finally, we are adding some really cool functionality. On top of a lot of wish lists have been the inclusion of outcome analysis. That is, how much has my budget been affected by currency rate volatility so far? And what is the effect on my budget, and the preview for for the next transaction and the entire project because of this?
It is a major update on on functionality, which will help a lot of organizations to follow their projects funds and provide important data for financial reports and auditing.
All taken together, we hope, it will represent a great leap in terms of usability of the reports, and for the entire service! But we are still in the middle of development, so are open to add stuff to the list. If you think we missed something, get in touch!
Originally published at www.aidhedge.org.
