New Dakota Tracer and Scout Workspace Improves User Experience

July 2nd, 2020

Managing Environmental, Health, and Safety compliance and performance just got easier.

Introduced in September of 2019, Views are groups of Items that share common characteristics, such as Statuses or Due Dates. Built using a new front-end architecture that delivers speed and reliability, Views simplify navigation and encourage data exploration using Dakota's patented Parametric Filtering™.

Beginning with Version 12.1, a redesigned User Interface, featuring Views, becomes the primary workspace in Tracer and Scout.*

What’s the big deal?

The most noticeable change is that users are taken directly into the new workspace when selecting Tracer or Scout Incident from the top navigation bar. A new front-end framework makes entering these products, or switching between them, nearly instantaneous. From there, users will notice that the Organization Hierarchy is now expanded one level, providing better visibility into Items at sub-levels. Upon first login, users are prompted to Select a View from a list of “System” or “Shared With Me” Views.

What else is new?

Sure, it’s fast and looks great, but the new workspace offers more than speed and aesthetic appeal. Improved Views management makes accessing and sharing items of interest a snap, even for users with dozens of Views.

• Search your Views - Segmented “System,” “My,” and “Shared With Me” helps to keep things organized and the Views menu now includes incremental search.

• Choose your Default View - Each User Profile supports the selection of a Default View, which will be the selected View each time that user starts a session.

• Last View remembered - Do you go back and forth between products frequently? The new workspace will return you to your last selected View during your current session.

• Alphabetical Field selector - Adding and removing fields from your Views is key to sharing and gaining insights. The Fields list is now alphabetical.

• Reset View - Have you ever been exploring data and want to back up to the original View state? Now you can with the Reset button.

• Improved “Save as…” - If you create, clone, and share Views frequently, the new “Save as…” controls will help you avoid accidentally overwriting your Views.

Can I add Views to my Home Screen?

Yes! The new workspace works hand-in-hand with the new Home Screen. To favorite a View, just select the desired View in Tracer or Scout, click the Dashboard (‘pie chart’) button, then click the ‘star’ on any Pod. Once a View Pod is added to your Home Screen, just click the “Go to Data Table” or the “Go to Dashboard” icons in the Pod header to drive directly into that View.

How do I train my team?

Ensuring that users understand how to navigate the new workspace is one of our top priorities. To assist with the change, we’ve created a series of in-product Guides that will walk users through the Home Screen and the new Workspace. Future releases will utilize these guides to highlight new features, provide contextual support, and help with onboarding and overall customer success.

Working with Views has also been incorporated into our live training webinars, including these special sessions focused specifically on the new workspace.

What’s Next?

ProActivity Version 12 will continue to deliver on Dakota’s promise of proactive compliance assurance by making our Action Tracking and EHS data management products more accessible and intuitive. Subsequent Version 12 releases will focus on enhancing Tracer and Scout by streamlining item creation and improving access from email alerts and reminders links and related items.

*Note that Scout applications with dependencies on Organization folder structure, like Air Emissions, Waste Management, Refrigeration Management, and Training Tracking, will continue to direct users to the Organization workspace with the new workspace available as a secondary option.

Questions? Contact your Account Manager or email support@dakotasoft.com to learn more.