Those of you who have been following my blog for a while may have noticed the new look. Thanks to Ravi Varma. Not only for developing such a wonderful free WP theme, but also in helping me to customize it according to my requirements. We are still in the process of enhancing the overall look. I hope you all will like it. Any suggestions or comments are welcome.
7 mistakes you don’t want to make while designing Business Dashboards
This is an extract from a White Paper, “Top 5 best practices for creating effective campaign dashboards and the 7 mistakes you don’t want to make” by Tableau Software.
- Starting off with too much complexity.
It’s easy to get overly ambitious and want to provide highly detailed, real-time dashboards covering each and every marketing challenge that also allow users to customize in multiple dimensions. But instead of spending multiple weeks or even months working through your first iteration, you’ll be better off working through several short cycles of prototype, test and adjust. - Using metrics no one understands.
Your marketing metrics are probably so familiar to you that even something as simple as “conversion rate” seems obvious in its definition. But the reality is, your dashboard needs to use metrics or concepts that your broader audience understands. - Cluttering the dashboard with unimportant graphics and unintelligible widgets.
Keep your dashboard simple in its visual appeal. Resist the temptation to make your dashboard too flashy or over-designed, with gauge-like graphics and widgets. As pretty as those may seem, they get in the way with your dashboard’s objective: rapidly and easily informing your audience. - Waiting for complex technology and big BI deployment projects.
Sure, some of traditional Business Intelligence tools provide fancy capabilities that are nice to have. But marketing departments are often on the bottom of the IT priority list so waiting for the BI project to materialize may mean months or years of delay. Fortunately, there are dashboard tools and strategies that can get you going now. Continue reading →
How to fix issues with Xcelsius 2008 on Windows Vista
Off late users with Xcelsius 2008 were complaining about the functionality of the application on Windows Vista. Below are some of them:
- Whenever the user exits the application, it pops up an error “Xcelsius has stopped working…”
- Xcelsius automatically exits without prompt when trying to access the Add-On Manager
The fix for these kind of issues is to disable UAC (User Access Control) in windows vista. In order to do that, follow the below instructions:
Disable UAC using Windows Vista Command Line:
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
In case you want to Enale it:
C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
Disable UAC using Windows Vista Control Panel (Easy Way):
Open up Control Panel, and type in “UAC” into the search box. You’ll see a link for “Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off”:
Xcelsius Custom Component Wishlist!
One of the major benifits in CX 2008 is leverage the SDK and build custom components using Adobe Flex. This will enable users to create and use their own custom components in CX 2008. For example, many users wanted a Tree Component which is not an Out of Box component in CX 2008. However using CX SDK and Adobe Flex, one can create the Tree component. Below link has some examples:
Click here for some free components
Click here if you have some dough to spend
What is your compenent wishlist? Please leave a comment. This list will give the Component Developers an idea on what to focus and develop in future.
Crystal Xcelsius 4.5 on Windows Vista 64-bit Edition!
If you have noticed, according to the user documentaion of Xcelsius 4.5, Windows Vista 64-bit is not listed under the supporting Operating systems list. Xcelsius 4.5 is not alone, because many applications built for Windows Xp work on Vista 32 and 64 bit. Many Vista 64-bit users have claimed that they had no issues installing and using Xcelsius 4.5. If you have Windows Vista 64-bit edition and facing issues installing or running Xcelsius 4.5, here is how you can get it worked.
One of the pre-requisite for Xcelsius 4.5 was to log on as an Administrator to Install the application, enter the serial number and activate the product. This is still true under Vista, however programs are now under Windows ‘User Account Control’.
User Account Control (UAC) is a new security component in Windows Vista. UAC enables users to perform common tasks as non-administrators, called standard users in Windows Vista, and as administrators without having to switch users, log off, or use Run As. A standard user account is synonymous with a user account in Windows XP. User accounts that are members of the local Administrators group will run most applications as a standard user.
This is a default parameter. Hence, you have to explicitly assign ‘Run as Adminstrator’ in order to write to system directories or the registry.
Instead of launching Xcelsius using the shortcut icon under Programs -> Business Objects -> Crystal Xcelsius 4.5, locate the main executable present at
the following path:
“C:\Program Files\Business Objects\Crystal Xcelsius Designer 4.5\xcelsius.exe”
Right-click on ‘xcelsius.exe’ and choose ‘Run as administrator’
Voila 
