If you're new to Alteryx or feel the need to go back to basics, here are some ideas to improve your day as you’re getting acclimated to the new program.
Time-Management and Analysis.
In our work at VeraData, we try to pay close attention to the optimizations of our Alteryx workflows. From the earliest stages of VeraData's launch, we were able to create a model of interaction which makes our work more effective, cohesive, and of course, constantly improving upon it. When I ran into a question about this topic, I realized that we have useful experience and would like to share some ideas with you.
The question was: What happens when increasing project quantities and complexities becomes a problem for new Alteryx Users and beginner analysts? In the early stages of your Alteryx usage, you probably spent or are spending most of your time resolving tasks and implementing your ideas. As time goes on, you’ll be facing the analysis phases and Executive Stakeholders (or clients) will begin developing requests for new or different business decision making concepts to be built within Alteryx. We were in this situation too, and our suggestions below should be helpful for you.
TIP #1: Avoid implementing your entire project in one module.
After working with Alteryx for some time, you’ll be able to understand almost all workflows on an intermediate level. Alteryx becomes easier the more you work with it, even on an intuitive level. But not all users will learn at the same pace. A perfect solution for this is to divide your projects into smaller tasks. Each phase should have its own workflow with input and output files. It doesn’t take much time, and it makes modules more understandable for everyone.
TIP #2: Use Templates.
In the beginning phases, the main goal is to “resolve the task.” We also need to remember, the method of solution is very important. You should work gradually to implement smaller goals until they’re achieved. Once the solution is developed, give attention to the appearance of your workflow, and make it as structured and as optimized as possible. This will allow other team members to benefit from it as well. When it’s finished, save this module as a template. It’ll help to reduce the time being spent on these tasks and can be used to help train the newer Alteryx users within your organization.
TIP #3: Gain Feedback.
We’re all familiar with that feeling of trying to work to resolve tasks on a day to day basis and the mere thought of trying to view these tasks in a new or different way seems impossible. This is a perfect reason to integrate inspections on every step of your project. You should probably shy away from asking your senior analyst and engineers to review your work as they’re probably tied up with their own deadlines. In most cases, you need a fresh vision, a new perspective from an outside source.
That’s exactly the reason that VeraData has decided to assist with opening up our Fort Myers Alteryx User Group and Community Forum.
Feel free to ask any questions you’d like, as we encourage our group members to provide different perspectives to any questions you might have. We would like to share our experiences with you and help promote new avenues to look for answers in any improvement areas you might come across.
