The Logical Steps

Results Analytics is divided into a sequence of logical steps that allow you to examine and analyze your data, to rank alternatives, and to assemble a subset of possible alternatives by moving selected data points to a separate area—the basket. Finally, you review the alternatives in the basket and recommend the best options.

This page discusses:

About the Logical Steps

You start the sequence of logical steps by previewing your raw data; you end the sequence by recommending the best alternatives in the basket, as illustrated in the following figure:

Results Analytics represents each step in the sequence by a separate page in the user interface. You follow the sequence by moving from one page to the next, as follows:

Preview
View an overview of the problem and the data set, how the data were generated, the parameters contained in the data set, and, if applicable, the simulation process that was used to create the data. You use the overview to confirm the data set is correct and valid.
Define
Define, map, group, and share parameters. Results Analytics uses this information, along with the selected ranking method, to rank the alternatives.
Explore
Filter and postprocess your data set. Results Analytics uses this information along with the selected ranking method to rank the data points. You can then choose which of the alternatives to include in the basket.
Predict
Add data points to your data set containing predicted values based on a polynomial regression model of your existing data points.
Compare
Compare the alternatives that you placed in the basket using parameter values, files, images, videos, and 3DPlay animations of lightweight simulation data. In addition, you can compare the relative score for each objective between alternatives.
Collaborate
View the effect of weight trade-offs and the effect on the overall score of each parameter defined as an objective. If desired, you can assign a priority that overrides the weight assigned to an objective and view the resulting change in ranking.
Recommend
View a summary of the recommended alternatives and their associated comments.

You can create a report summarizing the analytics case and the showing the decisions you took at each step in the sequence to arrive at your recommended alternatives.

Changing the Step Order

The default step order is logical for most cases; however, you may want to reorder, hide, or rename the steps; for example, you may simply want to compare results, generate an approximation, or perform a requirement trade-off analysis. You reorder the steps by dragging a step along the workflow diagram along the bottom of the Results Analytics window. You hide or rename a step by right-clicking on a step in the workflow diagram. Your customizations are saved along with the analytics case.