Simplified navigation with the new SAP Analytics Cloud view mode toolbar in Stories and Analytic Applications

Welcome to my blog post. My name is Wendy McGrath, Senior UA Designer for SAP HANA Database and Analytics, and I’m going to take you through the five main changes to the SAP Analytics Cloud view mode toolbar in the QRC 1 release 2021.

Ever felt the frustration of walking into your regular supermarket, to find they’ve moved items around? You’d grown accustomed to taking those extra steps to your bread rolls. Why have they done this to me, you wonder. And then, you notice how much more intuitively positioned the items are. In no time, you’ve bought into the change.

Well, let’s look now at the five main changes to the SAP Analytics Cloud view mode toolbar, that will make viewing your stories and analytic applications a more streamlined and intuitive experience. Fewer extra steps for you!

The five main changes are:

1. Easier navigation through multiple story pages
2. Grouped functions, fewer icons, and quick access to important functions
3. Prominent Publish data function
4. More space for your content
5. A more a role-based experience

1. Easier navigation through multiple story pages

It’s not unusual to build up many story pages as you prepare your analysis. Navigating horizontally through all that valuable content was quite challenging.

Figure 1. The previous view mode toolbar – horizontal scrolling.

To alleviate the need to endlessly scroll sideways, we enhanced the page navigation to give you an overview of all page tabs as a drop-down menu. This drop-down menu approach makes it much easier to jump from page to page in your story. But don’t worry if you want to keep your current page view. It’s still possible to choose your preferred navigation settings.

 Figure 2. The new view mode toolbar – new page navigation.

2. Grouped functions, fewer icons, and quick access to important functions

When looking at icons on a toolbar, it should be instantly clear to you what functions are behind each one. This wasn’t always the case with the previous view mode toolbar.
We all notice that extra mouse-click where there just shouldn’t be one. When going through your normal workflow, your most used functions should be easy to access, with priority given to the most important ones, like filters and bookmarks.

Figure 3. The previous view mode toolbar – multiple icons.

In the new view mode toolbar, we’ve grouped functions together into sections. You can now more easily find the functions by name. Single buttons and drop-downs are rearranged to make them more consistent, and to give you a more intuitive overview of your options.

Figure 4. The new view mode toolbar – functions grouped into sections.

The new view mode toolbar sections are File, Edit, Tools and Display, as you can see from the screenshots below.

Figure 5. New File section.

 
Figure 6. New Edit section.

Figure 7. New Tools section.

Figure 8. New Display section.

Figure 9. New Edit section for analytic applications.

Figure 10. New Display section for analytic applications.

Figure 11. New Tools section for analytic applications.

(Note: From Figure 12. below, you can see that when working with analytic applications there’s no File section in view mode.)

Figure 12. The new view mode toolbar in analytic applications – functions grouped into sections.

The new quick access buttons shown in Figure 13. below make it easier for you to reach the functions you use most often, whether you’re a planner or BI analyst viewing stories or analytic applications. Only quick access buttons that are relevant to your workflow are displayed.
(Note: When working with analytic applications specifically, there’s also a Prompt quick access button.)

Figure 13. New Quick Access Buttons.

3. Prominent Publish data function

Important functions like data publishing in planning were quite hidden in the previous SAP Analytics Cloud view mode toolbar. When you’re ready to publish your story, you just want to get on with it, right?

With the new, front-and-center Publish Data button, you can quickly publish, or revert your edits to public versions. The overall publishing workflow was also improved to make your publishing life much easier.

Figure 14. The previous view mode toolbar – hidden functions.

As a planner, you’ll also see that common planning functions like Version Management and Allocate now appear more prominently in view mode.

Figure 15. New view mode – Publish Data.

4. More space for your content

Like an inconsiderate fellow passenger on a train, the previous view mode toolbar just took up too much vertical space. Even in full screen mode, the ever-present tab bar also took away valuable real estate from your content. This was particularly noticeable on smaller screens.

Figure 16. The previous view mode toolbar- distracting tab bar.

Figure 17. The previous view mode toolbar – too much vertical space.

To reduce the visual clutter and the vertical space, we hid the tab bar by default. This leaves more room for you to dedicate to the analytical content in your story.

Figure 18. The new view mode toolbar – hidden tab bar.

To reduce the visual clutter even further, you can completely hide the toolbar in view mode, and of course, bring it back again when you need it!

Figure 19. The new view mode toolbar – fully hidden.

To see a condensed version of the toolbar again, just hover over the top of the screen.

Figure 20. The new view mode toolbar – the toolbar functions returned.

5. A more role-based experience

If you’re a planner or a BI analyst working on a story or analytical application, you only want to see the functions tailored to your specific workflow requirements. You’ve enough to think about, without having to scan through menu items that are irrelevant to your workflow.

The new view mode toolbar distinguishes between different SAP Analytics Cloud users, and displays the toolbar functions relevant to you, according to the role with which you’ve logged in. For example, when logged in as a BI analyst, no planning functions are visible, as they aren’t relevant to your workflow.

Summary

In summary, the new toolbar from SAP Analytics Cloud aims to make your life easier while navigating stories and analytic applications in view mode. You can quickly get to the most commonly used functions in your workflow with quick access buttons, and move more easily through stories with a lot of pages. The new full screen mode completely hides the toolbar, so you can focus more on your content. But, if you want to see a condensed version of the toolbar again, just hover over the top of the screen. The streamlined toolbar makes it easier to work with planning model data. Common functions like Version Management and Allocate are more prominent, and the new Publish Data button lets you quickly publish or revert your edits to public versions.

This blog post is also published on the SAP HANA Journey page here: https://saphanajourney.com/sap-analytics-cloud/resources/simplifying-navigation-updated-sap-analytics-cloud-toolbar/

Feel free to share your feedback, by adding a comment.
Or ask questions in the Q&A tag area here: https://answers.sap.com/tags/67838200100800006884

Thanks for reading!