arcplan dora

8/9/2019 Arcplan DORA

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A Guide to DORADesign Once Run Anywhere

Avoiding the Screen Size Dilemma

Applying Responsive Design to Business Analytics Applications

www.arcplan.com


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Contents

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................2

Profiting from the Mobile Revolution ................................................................................................3

Empowering All Users on All Devices ..............................................................................................3

The Screen Size Dilemma ...............................................................................................................4

Responsive Design & DORA ...........................................................................................................5

Why DORA? ...................................................................................................................................5

Future-Proof Standards for DORA ...................................................................................................6

Minimized Risk Higher Adoption ...................................................................................................6

arcplans DORA Advantage .............................................................................................................7

DORA for Existing arcplan Applications ...........................................................................................7

Designing Responsively Advice for BI App Developers ................................................................8

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................10

About arcplan ................................................................................................................................11

Executive SummaryWhat is DORA? It means Design Once, Run Anywhere, and its the new mantra for solving

todays screen size dilemma something all organizations are facing as they struggle to

develop applications that are easily portable from desktops to smartphones and tablets. With a

constantly growing variety of computing devices, IT departments, developers and BI Competence

Centers are fighting fires to provide adaptive, yet usable and easy to maintain business

intelligence, analysis, and planning applications for all devices.

As mobile devices become the primary way of accessing business analyses, DORA will become

the standard development paradigm due to faster implementation and maintenance cycles. This

guide explores DORA, its foundation in Responsive Design and HTML5, how it will influence

business intelligence (BI) design going forward, and how arcplan is pioneering the concept with its

latest release, arcplan 8.

arcplan |A Guide to DORA | 2


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Profiting from the Mobile Revolution

Conditions are finally right for mobile BI to take off: affordable, high-performance devices are in

the hands of nearly 50% of the population and technology has advanced far enough that mobile

BI is not just a possibility but an inevitability. Already,Gartner has found that after e-mail, BI is the

most popular application with CEOs and CFOs, and that use cases are building among middle

managers and line managers who need to make quick decisions while away from their desks.

But what has been the roadblock for mobile BI becoming a reality at most companies? Certainly

not the license fees they are often very affordable or even free from some BI vendors. Not the

desire survey after survey has reported that mobile BI is important for businesses of all sizes

and in all industries and that plans have been underway for some time, with its deployment

always around the corner. A big contributor to the delay is logistical in nature the laborious

process of designing and maintaining applications for multiple end user devices.

Empowering All Users on All Devices

The reality is that for decades, business intelligence applications have been designed for desktopPC or laptop use. It has taken some time to develop mobile design standards, but now that the

iPhone is 6 years old and the Google Play Store hostsone million apps,its time for mobile BI to

arrive. But how do you

deploy oneanalytical application to all devices?

adjust onedesign to many different screen sizes?

keep design and maintenance effort low?

The answer is DORA Design Once, Run Anywhere a design philosophy pioneered by

arcplan, the global business intelligence leader who was one of the first BI vendors to release a

(free) mobile BI framework and has since become a proponent of Web apps as the dominantmobile BI deployment method. Web apps are not reliant on any particular mobile platform (iOS,

Android, etc.) but instead run on any device in a browser. DORA usesResponsive Design

principles to take BI apps beyond the desktop, saving 60% or more on development time and

costs. Responsive Design enables websites to dynamically adjust their layout to the end users

screen size, resolution and orientation. It is the ultimate solution for cross-device optimization.

The concept of DORA takes Responsive Design to BI dashboards, scorecards and reports.

Ashalf of the worlds businesses are expected to embrace the bring-your-own device (BYOD)

trend by 2017 and more than80%of employees are already using personal devices in the

workplace, DORA is more necessary than ever. This guide explores the what, why and how of

DORA as well as practical ways to employ it now to design responsive, adaptive BI applications

for any mobile device.

http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Mobile-business-intelligence-attracts-non-traditional-usershttp://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Mobile-business-intelligence-attracts-non-traditional-usershttp://www2.microstrategy.com/download/files/whitepapers/open/Mobile-BI-Market-Study-2012-Dresner-Advisory-Services.pdfhttp://mashable.com/2013/07/24/google-play-1-million/http://mashable.com/2013/07/24/google-play-1-million/http://mashable.com/2013/07/24/google-play-1-million/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_designhttp://www.cio.com/article/733656/Half_of_World_s_Companies_to_Embrace_BYOD_by_2017?taxonomyId=3061http://www.cio.com/article/733656/Half_of_World_s_Companies_to_Embrace_BYOD_by_2017?taxonomyId=3061http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYODhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYODhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYODhttp://phoenixtechpubs.com/blog/?p=1818http://phoenixtechpubs.com/blog/?p=1818http://phoenixtechpubs.com/blog/?p=1818http://phoenixtechpubs.com/blog/?p=1818http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BYODhttp://www.cio.com/article/733656/Half_of_World_s_Companies_to_Embrace_BYOD_by_2017?taxonomyId=3061http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsive_designhttp://mashable.com/2013/07/24/google-play-1-million/http://www2.microstrategy.com/download/files/whitepapers/open/Mobile-BI-Market-Study-2012-Dresner-Advisory-Services.pdfhttp://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Mobile-business-intelligence-attracts-non-traditional-users


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Native vs. Web Apps

The debate over whether native apps or Web apps

are the future of mobile BI still rages, but

proponents of Responsive Design favor Web apps.

While native apps from vendors like MicroStrategyand Oracle take advantage of the native gestures of

a particular device, Web apps from a vendor like

arcplan are device-independent and can be rolled

out on multiple platforms with little effort using

DORA.

To determine which software strategy is best for

your company, ask yourself:

Do we have multiple platforms and device

types in use already?

Will we ever possibly deploy other devices to

our users?

Are users allowed to use their own devices forwork purposes?

If the answer is yes to any of the above, a Web app

deployment is best. Web apps:

Dont force users to download updates

because a fix on the server is a f ix on the site

serving the app.

Enable users to bookmark or even save an

icon on the devices desktop to open the app

in a browser window. This way, it feels more

like an app, not just a website.

Are starting to integrate native gestures thanks

to HTML5 (more on this below).

The Screen Size Dilemma

Ask any website, application, or BI developer their biggest

challenge and theyll say its designing for a multitude of

mobile devices. It has always been a struggle for BI app

designers to optimize applications to fit the different sizes of

desktop PCs and laptops, ranging from 13-24, but thechallenge became even greater once mobile devices

became so ubiquitous in the workplace.

Tablets willsurpass laptop and PC sales in 2013 and it

seems that every executive has one with them at all times.

From a design perspective, the explosion of the sub-8-inch

tablet market (with models like Amazons Kindle Fire and

Googles Nexus 7) has further complicated app design, with

screen sizes between the iPads 9.7 inch screen and the

iPhones 4 inch screen needing to be incorporated into the

mix. While size is just one point of contention, there are

other factors in play. For example, orientation whichdevices are optimized for portrait or landscape orientation

and pixel density or pixels per inch (PPI). The iPhone 5s

Retina Display is able to display more pixels on its 4 inch

display than most laptops. A BI dashboard that looks great

on an iPhone, with its 326 ppi, looks significantly different

blown up on a Surface with its 148 ppi.

For BI app designers, it is impossible to create separate

reports and dashboards for every device, especially where

BYOD is allowed. From a maintenance point of view alone,

it would be a nightmare. So what is the solution? A new and

intelligent approach that allows designers to create one appthat dynamically adjusts its layout for all devices, from

laptops to smartphones.

4326 ppi

iPhone 5

5441 ppi

Galaxy 4S

4,7320 ppi

Nexus 4

7,9163 ppi

iPad Mini

7254 ppi

Kindle Fire

9,7265 ppi

iPad

10,6148 ppi

Surface

13-24100-232 ppi

Laptops & Desktops

http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24129713http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24129713http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24129713


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Benefits of Responsive Design/DORA

Time savings As much as 70% during

development.

Content reuse Its easy to reuse existing

desktop BI content. Simply tweak the design

and it can be served up on multiple devices

with very little effort.

BYOD support DORA is tailor-made to

support BYOD policies without any extra

burden on IT or BI teams.

Responsive Design & DORA

Responsive Design is a concept developed for Web design.

The idea is to present the same content regardless of the

device type, but the layout responds to the device asking

for the content. In the BI world, it means a master app can

be designed one time, then slightly reconfigured for eachdevice with very little effort no copy /no separate app. This

is what we mean by DORA Design Once, Run Anywhere.

The goal is to have a matching look and usability for each

device. But with DORA, the effort required to design BI

applications for multiple devices can be reduced by 70% or

even more.

Why DORA?

The question is more like why not DORA? Design Once, Run Anywhere apps are necessary in a

world where organizations need the same apps deployed to devices with different screen sizes

while maintaining a consistent design and low maintenance effort.

There are a multitude of reasons why BI apps need to be designed differently for different

devices. Phone screens of 4-5 inches are too small for

advanced charting and dashboards that look great and work

well on tablets. In the same vein, analytical applications

designed for larger screens need to be divided into smaller

columns that smartphones can display properly. For

example, a dashboard with six charts can be digested easily

on a 19 monitor, but on a smartphone, a user can literally

only read one chart at a time the numbers and labels are

simply too small otherwise. Using DORA, the app designercan slightly modify the desktop app for smartphones by

stacking each chart on top of each other, requiring the phone

user to only scroll down to view the same content. No need to

pinch or zoom the content would be optimized for the

screen size without the user having to do a thing. The app understands which variation to present.

DORA also understands how to present content properly when the user flips

between portrait and landscape orientation.



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Future-Proof Standards for DORA

arcplans DORA principle is based on globally accepted standards such asHTML5.Its the next

major revision of the HTML standard, the markup language for presenting content on the Web. At

this point, all major browsers Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer support

HTML5 enhancements. What is important to note is that HTML5 makes multimedia and graphics

content easier to handle on any device. This is a huge opportunity for BI vendors like arcplan,who have moved to an HTML5 client rather than continuing to rely on Java, Silverlight, Flash or

other older Web technologies. Needless to say, the users experience with websites and BI apps

is better and faster with HTML5 because of its reduced reliance on plugins (which are handled

differently in each browser). HTML5 ensures that all content is served up the same way,

regardless of browser or device. This is the backbone of Responsive Design and DORA.

Organizations that choose to deploy their mobile BI apps as Web apps which arcplan advocates

will be able to take advantage of HTML5. Native apps require application and infrastructure

customizations for every device type, which makes them cumbersome to maintain over time for

both vendors and end users. HTML5 basically eradicates the arguments for native apps. HTML5

browsers also access touch information, enabling Web apps to behave just like native apps, and

in the near future such modern browsers will also access sensor information and other device-specific features to lessen the difference even more. There is no need to use plugins like Flash in

order to view multimedia content on desktops, like animated BI charts, which is important

considering iPhones and iPads still do not support Flash.

How does your BI application understand where the app runs? In simple terms, arcplans DORA

BI apps use a media queryapproach to determine the size of the device they are being served

to. With a piece of JavaScript code arcplan detects the breakpoints for various screen widths and

orientations, which developers can make use of by defining a set of deployment templates

arcplan calls them Views to serve the various devices in the companys device support

strategy.

Minimized Risk Higher Adoption

The DORA principle minimizes many of the risks associated with continuous innovations among

devices and their evolving capabilities. With arcplans platform, IT leaders can ensure that they

only need to develop their BI apps once, and can deploy them seamlessly to a wide range of

devices including smartphones and tablets. They can also support kiosks and Web browsers as

well.

This offers significant cost and time savings for developers and more flexibility for users. It means

offering users the best experience no matter what device they use, ultimately leading to greater BI

adoption and more informed decisions across the enterprise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_querieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_querieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_querieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_querieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html5


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arcplans DORA Advantage

arcplan 8 was created with Responsive Design, or what

we call DORA (Design Once, Run Anywhere), in mind. It

is the first business intelligence platform to intrinsically

optimize BI apps for every device type.

arcplan utilizes an HTML5 client and matching

application development tools in its arcplan Application

Designer environment to adapt applications in less time

and at less cost than other BI platforms. The result is a

lower total cost of ownership (TCO) for customers than

building separate experiences for desktop, tablets, and

smartphones, amounting to a 70% savings on

development time. For example, for organizations

needing to support tablet and smartphones in addition to

desktop computers, arcplan 8 cuts BI application

development down 2/3 of that of competitors. This is

because with arcplan, there is only a small amount ofoverhead for each device type the developer does not

need to design several apps from scratch for each device. This equates to faster deployments

and simpler application maintenance.

DORA cuts down development time significantly

while optimizing BI apps for multiple devices.

DORA for Existing arcplan Applications

How can you take advantage of arcplan 8 and Responsive Design for a BI deployment strategy?

Simply put, any arcplan application can be made responsive with a bit of effort. As with any GUI,

good design cannot be auto-generated by software or an algorithm. It would be too difficult for a

machine to determine what parts of your app belong together what parts are headers, labels, or

filters and should be shown on a certain device or not. arcplan provides a set of design best-

practices but also recommends an Application Design Revision Workshop with arcplans

Professional Services team if your application was designed some years ago.



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Designing Responsively

Advice for BI App Developers

Although the actual design process for DORA using arcplan

is quite simple, there are a number of items to consider

before beginning. Because arcplans design environment is

drag-and-drop enabled, developers can simply move

elements around on the screen to determine where items

best fit. But Responsive Design is all about creating

experiences across multiple platforms, and this process is

much smoother if you consider a few things upfront.

Users

Know thy users. Mobile users and desktop users may want

very different things and it is important to take stock of their

expectations in advance. When it comes to a BI dashboard

app, mobile users probably want the same thing as desktop

users at-a-glance views of performance without muchanalytical capability. But mobile users of a planning

application may want something very different than desktop

users: while using mobile devices they may want to review,

update and comment on data. Input dialogs and screens for mobile devices may need special

attention in regard to font size and limited keyboard capabilities to ensure the best user interface

(UI).

Context

It is also important to understand where users might be when using your BI app checking

something quickly on the way to an appointment, walking around on the plant floor, etc. These

users are likely going to use your app with burst-like behavior and you will want to accommodatethat type of usage with design modifications; for example, large filters for quick status checks and

live tiles for highly relevant updates.

You should also consider how your navigation may

need to be adjusted from the desktop app to the

mobile app to emphasize content and common tasks.

If your desktop app has navigation tabs at the top,

you may consider moving navigation to the bottom of

your mobile app if it gets in the way of users primary

tasks. arcplan users automatically have navigation

reformatted for small screens. Once top navigation

tabs become too wide for the screen size, they areadjusted to a drop-down menu.

The key question in Responsive Design is which

functions are important for a specific device? Your

users purpose is to find what theyre looking for and act

on it. If your app facilitates this, it will be successful.

Responsive navigation:

condense space and

consider drop-down menus

when moving to smaller devices.

The 5 Principles of DORA

Design with mobile in mind. This leads to a

better user experience across all devices and

platforms.

Start wit h the smallest device first.This willhelp streamline your app from the beginning.

Remove non-essential content from mobile

apps. Focus on the key tasks users want to

accomplish and provide options to drill down

further.

Design f or interaction.Make it possible to

drill down, add commentary, and easily share

insights. These days, it is even an option to

enable ad-hoc on tablets.

Create a styl e guide.To keeping your

business applications consistent, create

guidelines and best practices for developers to

follow.



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Content First

Whether designed for desktop, mobile or both, your BI app should put important content front and

center. On a device with limited screen real estate, focus on the most important elements but

provide the option to drill down for additional details. Nothing is more frustrating than visiting a

website on your phone, only to be redirected to a special mobile version that does not provide the

information you need especially when you know it is available on a desktop and the mobileversion simply denies you access to it.

When it comes to mobile BI apps, remove unnecessary elements and adjust visualizations to

maximize the amount of information per pixel. On mobile devices, gauges or speedometers are

not a good idea; they take up too much room without providing much information. Instead, try a

simple box that highlights the speedometer metric a much better pixel-to-information ratio.

Charts & Tables

The best advice is to stack your charts and tables on mobile devices. If you are trying to make a

designed-for-desktop dashboard responsive, the easiest method is to stack each graphic so it is

large enough to be understood on the smallest device without too much zooming. Keep legends,

supporting labels and headlines with each chart.

Finding the Right Views

Finding the right Views for your BI application is crucial. On the one hand it depends on your

content (how dense is it, are you using many related charts, tables, etc.); on the other hand it

depends on the devices used to access your application.

After identifying the most important devices to support, you are ready to define arcplan Views for

your application. The primary input for this process is the screen width of the devices, since you

define the breakpoints for your application based on this information. There is a technical glitch

you should keep in mind: screen width is not the physical resolution of the device, but the CSS

pixel width reported to the browser (e.g. an iPhone 4 will report a device width of 320 CSS pixels

in portrait mode, even though the physical resolution is 640 pixels). A good source for differentdevice widths can be foundhere.

http://cssmediaqueries.com/target/http://cssmediaqueries.com/target/http://cssmediaqueries.com/target/http://cssmediaqueries.com/target/


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Touch Targets

Touch-enabled devices have an impact on your BI apps navigation and

input behavior. If your app requires users to choose filters, select radio

buttons, or input data, you must consider sizing your touch targets

appropriately. Implement touch targets that are 45-72 pixels wide, and be

sure to include enough space between actions so users wont accidentallyhit the wrong target.

Most phone users holding their device in portrait mode use their right

thumb to navigate apps. While a 45 pixel touch target may work for a

tablet, which most users navigate with an index finger or stylus, for

smartphone apps it is worth going as wide as 72 pixels for better thumb

navigation. Your goal is improving mobile usability and something as

simple as touch target widths go a long way toward user satisfaction.

Style Guide

Having a style guide is not a specific requirement for responsive BI applications, but the moredevices you design for, the more important it is to have documented best practices to keep your

apps consistent.

arcplan users can create style guides as arcplan documents, which enable them to directly copy

and paste the formatting from the style guide to a BI application.

Conclusion

Gartnerpredictedtwo years ago that by 2013, 33% of BI functionality would be consumed on

handheld devices. With arcplan 8s DORA philosophy, this can finally become a reality. With the

screen size dilemma eliminated, every user can have a positive, optimized experience with their

BI apps on any device. Developers get an easy way to design apps for their organizations

portfolio of devices. And the organization sees increased flexibility in its BI, leading to greater

adoption rates, better decisions and improved performance.

We are happy to discuss how we can make your BI applications aDORAble.

The green area is safe for

right thumb navigation.

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/gartner-predicts-business-intelligence-will-go-mobile-and-social-009765.phphttp://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/gartner-predicts-business-intelligence-will-go-mobile-and-social-009765.phphttp://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/gartner-predicts-business-intelligence-will-go-mobile-and-social-009765.phphttp://www.cmswire.com/cms/information-management/gartner-predicts-business-intelligence-will-go-mobile-and-social-009765.php


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About arcplan

arcplan is a leader in innovative Business Intelligence, Dashboard, Corporate Performance and

Planning software solutions for desktop and mobile use. Since 1993, arcplan has enabled more

than 3,200 customers worldwide to leverage their existing infrastructure for better decision

making. Empowering all users to connect and collaborate with relevant information is crucial for

improving business performance. With arcplan it simply works.

arcplans flagship product arcplan Enterprise was rated the #1 3rd party tool for SAP BW, Oracle

Essbase, and IBM Cognos TM1 in The BI Survey 13 (2013).

USA Europe

arcplan, Inc.

1265 Drummers Lane

Glenhardie Three, Suite 106

Wayne, PA 19087, USA

P: +1 610 902 0688

F: +1 610 902 0689

E: [email protected]

www.arcplan.com

arcplan Information Services GmbH

Elisabeth-Selbert-Str. 5

40764 Langenfeld, Germany

P: +49 2173 1676 0

F: +49 2173 1676 100

E: [email protected]

www.arcplan.com

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arcplan Mobile, arcplan Spotlight and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of arcplan, Inc and/or arcplan

Information Services GmbH. All other company names, products and services used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their

respective owners.

The information published herein is subject to change without notice. This publication is for informational purposes only, without

representation or warranty of any kind, and arcplan shall not be liable for errors or omissions
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