It’s been a busy year for feature development at Watershed, so we want to update you about what we’ve been working on! This three-part blog series outlines the latest features for report users, report builders, and more technical Watershed users in turn. And in this post, we’ll focus on features for report users.
We’ve compiled all of the feature developments in the following video. You also can scroll down the page to watch shorter video clips that directly relate to each report enhancement.
Recommended Reading
Organize leaderboards by Person and Activity in the same report.
You can now organize Leaderboard reports by both People and Activity at once instead of having to choose one or the other (e.g. people and courses, people and questions, etc.).
Why does it matter?
Let’s say, for instance, you want to report on everyone’s individual completions for multiple courses. Previously, you had to either:
- Create multiple reports, one for each course, which meant not being able to look at all the data together in one report; or
- Create measures for each course, which sometimes meant creating a lot of measures and a somewhat cluttered report; or
- Find some unique identifier representing each completion, such as a registration ID, to organize the report. (Configuring a unique identifier in this way can be complex and isn’t always possible if such an identifier does not exist in the data.)
Now, you can organize reports by both person and activity in one report so you can see everything all in one place. It'll save you time and simplify your dashboard, too!
What’s changed?
There’s a new setting in Report Builder that lets you organize a leaderboard by Person or by Activity and then select the remaining option as a second dimension.
The report will then show two dimension columns with a row for each unique combination of person and activity. For instance, if John Doe attempted four courses, the report would show four rows for John Doe, one row per course.
You can use this feature for many activities you might want to report on alongside people (e.g. pages, questions, videos, etc.).
How do I do it?
Open a Leaderboard in Report Builder. For the Organized dimension, select either By Person or By Activity. Next, select the remaining option as the secondary dimension, and your report will be organized by both dimensions.
Read more about this feature.
Download Program Report data as a CSV file.
You can download data from the Program report to a CSV file—enabling you to distribute that data to stakeholders (such as managers to check compliance) or analyze it in other tools, such as a BI tool.
Why does it matter?
You’ve been able to download CSV data from most of our report types for some time, but the Program report has been a notable exception. But now, you can quickly download this data to follow up with mandatory and compliance training completions easily.
What’s changed?
The Program report now has a Download Data Tables option similar to other report types. Selecting this option generates a .zip file containing two CSV files:
- A list of people who have and have not completed the program, along with details of each person’s progress. This file can be used to follow up with individuals who have not completed their required learning.
- A group-level summary that can be used to highlight particular parts of the organization with lower levels of completion.
How do I do it?
Click on the Download Data Tables option to download this data, and the .zip file will download. Then, unzip the file and view the CSV data using your preferred application.
Read more about this feature.
Display cumulative sums on line reports.
Line reports have always been ideal for viewing change in measure values over time. And now, you can take your reports one step further by displaying cumulative totals.
Why does it matter?
Being able to create Line reports that display a cumulative total helps show progress over time. In contrast, non-cumulative line reports are more practical to compare how figures have changed over time.
For example, during the Covid crisis, you’d often see cumulative line charts to show the percentage of people vaccinated. In an L&D context, these charts might look at how the number of people who have completed a course has increased over time.
What’s changed?
We have added a new cumulative sum option in simple configuration. This option switches the report to show the cumulative sum rather than the base value for each point on the chart.
How do I do it?
Select the Display Cumulative Sum option in Report Builder’s simple configuration to configure a line report with a cumulative sum.
Read more about this feature.
Use formula measures in Scatter reports.
In addition to using formula measures in many other Watershed report types, you can now use formulas that calculate metrics from multiple data points in Scatter reports.
Why does it matter?
Formula measures enable you to perform calculations based on other data values. This could be as simple as calculating a percentage from a raw number to calculating an overall metric that combines many metrics in a complex custom formula.
Scatter reports are great for visualizing two potentially related measures to identify outliers (e.g. exceptionally high or low performers) or items that perform well in one measure but not another. For example, Caterpillar uses Scatter reports to identify popular training videos month by month on their Kaltura video platform.
This new feature means that formula measures are now compatible with Scatter reports, giving you another way to visualize formula-calculated metrics.
What’s changed?
Previously, the Scatter report was the only report that used measures but didn’t support formula measures. However, now you can use formula measures with Scatter reports, too!
How do I do it?
Formula measures require advanced configuration. Visit our knowledge base to learn more about this process.
Sort stacked bar reports by stacked totals.
Tidy up your stacked Bar reports by sorting by the stack total rather than by just one item in the stack.
Why does it matter?
Stacked bar charts sorted by stacked total look neater and make it easier to see the top or bottom items in terms of the stack total.
For example, you might create a stacked bar chart comparing groups of learners using a stack of platform utilization metrics, such as logins, completions, views etc. Sorting by stack total gives a clearer idea of overall popularity than sorting by any one of the measures in the stack.
What’s changed?
Previously, you could only sort stacked bar charts by one of the measures that compose the stack—not by the total of the whole stack. As a result, it is now easier to compare items by the entire stack, and sorted, stacked bar charts look much more organized.
How do I do it?
When creating a Bar report in Report Builder, make sure to add multiple measures and configure the report to display a single report for all measures (so you have something to stack). From there, select the Stacked stacking option and then Total from the Default Sort dropdown.
Up Next: New Watershed Features for Report Builders and L&D Techies
We hope you and your report users are excited about Watershed’s new report features. We’ve also been working on new features to help report builders and more technical features around performance, reliability, and security. Find out more about these features in the next two posts!
About the author
As a co-author of xAPI, Andrew has been instrumental in revolutionizing the way we approach data-driven learning design. With his extensive background in instructional design and development, he’s an expert in crafting engaging learning experiences and a master at building robust learning platforms in both corporate and academic environments. Andrew’s journey began with a simple belief: learning should be meaningful, measurable, and, most importantly, enjoyable. This belief has led him to work with some of the industry’s most innovative organizations and thought leaders, helping them unlock the true potential of their learning strategies. Andrew has also shared his insights at conferences and workshops across the globe, empowering others to harness the power of data in their own learning initiatives.
Subscribe to our blog