Navigating around a large system like Aptify can be challenging, especially when you are new to the system or you leave between tasks. I talked a little bit about feeling like a lost child in my last blog about search, and this feeling returns whenever I sign in to the system not really knowing what I need to find and where to find it.
Luckily, like my search hacks, I have come up with a foolproof way to arrange all the records, views, and wizards I use to be easily accessible every time I log in. My friends, let me introduce you to the Aptify Favorites Bar.
The Favorites Bar is a wonderful place where I can bookmark all of the items I use regularly, and you, too, can use this tool whether you are using Aptify Web or the traditional desktop version of Aptify. Here are my top tips to becoming a Favorites Bar super star!
Define What Makes a Favorite
So you don’t just throw anything into the Favorites Bar, you want to decide what makes an item important enough to warrant that star. Here’s some ways you can decide:
- Do you use this record or view everyday?
- Will this record be an important part of a project you are working on?
- Does this piece of data contribute to your roles KPIs?
- Is this a gateway view that you use to quickly find other records?
- Do you just love this record?
Great, now that we have a base for how to pick your favorites, be sure you are selective. The Aptify Favorites Bar can comfortably hold about 25 favorites (and more if you are happy to scroll), but this is a big list to go through every day. I would recommend picking your top 15, and then group for ease.
Group Love
My love letter to the Favorites Bar would not be complete without my love for Groups. Sure, you could just “star” every item that you might use, but this would make the Favorites Bar a complete mess, and here lies the beauty of Groups.
You can group all of your saved items into their functional Groups, type of record or by name. I would also recommend then ordering your Groups by how often you use each item. Say you use every item daily in a particular Group, this Group should be first on the bar, then leave some of the speciality items, or items you use less often closer to the bottom of the page.
Assess and Reevaluate
Once you’ve got your Favorites Bar in place, you will hopefully streamline how you work within the system and be able to find items quicker and easier.
I would recommend using the Favorites Bar as is for four weeks and then taking stock of what works and what doesn’t. Is there a record that you frequently use that should be added to the bar, are their records on the bar you haven’t even touched, or do you find it more natural to get to them other ways?
Also, are your Groups working, should some be moved up or down, or maybe grouped in a different way? Assess what is working well, and keep moving in that direction.
I’d love to see a screenshot of your Favorites Bar, leave a picture in the comments. Also, finding data is only the first step, check out our Big Data eBook for advise on how to serve your members better with a data-based strategy.
