Adding a user-specific selection to a calculation without using the User list?

ADenchev

Hello, i am trying to find a solution to the following user story:

 

There are a set of modules for a reporting page that currently consist of multiple dimensions (we cannot use a combined list of only possible combinations due to the users not liking the loss of flexibility). These modules return a calculation that needs to be affected by four user-driven booleans that change the underlying calculation.

The current setup's problem is the booleans are not user-specific and thus if one user makes a boolean selection to change the calculation, this will affect another user's work due to the numbers changing. If we want the calculations to be user-specifically changed, we need to add the user dimension to the modules (which will result in a massive explosion of space consumption which we cannot afford).

 

Is there a way we can make the booleans user-specific without exploding the model, without changing the current dimensionality of the modules to a combined list, etc? I've thought about replicating the KPIs in a separate module (that will work as a LISS) that has every possible combination of the tickboxes used, and to filter the metric we want to show based on the tickbox selection, but this has a similar space increase, so it's not a viable solution.

 

Thank you very much for the help in advance!

 

Best,
Alex  

ChrisAHeathcote

@ADenchev 

I have faced a similar issue but with FX where the original build calculated the correct output based on a currency selection. Like you the selection was not user specific so resulted in all users seeing the same calculation and not one which was specific to them. 

We solved this by not incorporating the users list into the output module but the currency selection. We then allowed the user to select the correct reporting by choosing the relevant currency in a context selector.

In this example we did not create any additional sparsity as we used categories such as, 'local, reporting and group' so that all combinations of dimensions contained valid data.

 

However, if the boolean selection is a list or you are able to convert it into a dimension you could add it to the module and then filter the view based on the boolean selection. If you add users just to the selection you could use 'current user' filter settings to generate a unique filter for each user. 

 

You will be faced with the problem of how you deal with summary levels as these will not re-calculate based on what the user chooses to filter but will display the summary value for all child items not just those shown. 

 

Another option is to create a list which combines all possible combinations that the user can select from and then add this to the module. Calculate and limit the view by using the same user based filter as described above. 

 

Lastly, I would revisit why you can not use a series of combination lists to show all the required angles of the data. Your client may enjoy the flexibility of including all the dimensions in a single module but the same outcomes can be achieved over a series of related module which use a variety of combination lists to derive the same outcomes. Your model will be far more efficient and will be easier to maintain when it goes live.