Surveys

Poor data quality is costing organizations an average of 14 million $ / year (Gartner).
As Enterprise Architects are often more involved with keeping data up-to-date than with creating value, we designed Surveys as one more tool in the EA repertoire.
It allows you to collect information from responsible people without the hassle of sending out individual emails.

Fundamentals

Who can send/create surveys?

Surveys can only be created and sent by a workspace administrator. To access the configuration, the admin must navigate to the survey option in the menu of advanced settings.

Who can receive surveys?

Every user can receive a survey, this will need to be defined in the scope of the survey.

• Active user only: admins, members, or viewers roles that have the status of ACTIVE
• Active & invited users: admins, members, or viewers roles that have the status of ACTIVE or INVITED
• All users (incl. contacts): admins, members, viewers, or contact with the status of ACTIVE, INVITED, or NOT INVITED

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Attention:

When a survey contains Fact Sheet Segments and Elements it cannot be sent to contacts. This is because you need the right permissions to be able to edit information within the Fact Sheets. As soon as you want the recipient to directly edit information in a Fact Sheet, the addressed person needs to be an active LeanIX user.

We strongly recommend including as many people to contribute to LeanIX as possible. So do not hesitate to invite your business contacts to the tool.

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Information

Complementary to this guide, as LeanIX users, you can find a step-by-step video tutorial on how to create your survey in LeanIX Academy course on Survey.

List of available surveys

The list shows which surveys have been created for that workspace, when they were created, and how many executions have occurred.
Also on the page, you can create a new survey by selecting the "New Survey" button

Design your survey form

LeanIX offers different question types that can be dragged to and edited in the box on the right side of the screen.

Question types

• Fact Sheet ➡️ Use an actual section of a Fact Sheet or fields to more direct questions
• Basic ➡️ Most common question types like text input, date, radio button, etc
• Advanced ➡️ If you would like to get a result based on the answers provided, select the calculated field option

If you don't want to start from scratch, you can always import another survey file or use the template option (visit here)

The Import Survey option brings you to a dialogue where you can either import a .txt file containing JSON code or you can directly paste the code to the editor on the right. To make your life easier for re-using surveys you can build a survey using the drag & drop functionality and then export the JSON to re-use it at a later point in time or for another workspace.

Fact Sheet element

The survey also supports a type of survey question called Fact Sheet element, which allows the survey designer to bind a single Fact Sheet element as the answer. The following types of fact elements can be selected

• Fact Sheet fields of type single-select or text - in this case, a drop-down with the field values are used as the answer form for the survey question

• Tag groups - in this case the tag values for the tag group are used as an answering form. They are rendered as a single select drop-down, if the tag group is configured to be single-valued, and as a multi-tag picker otherwise. Tags in the survey form are rendered in the same visual form as on the single Fact Sheet

• Subscriptions - here the survey designer needs to select a subscription type and an (optional) subscription role. In the survey form, subscriptions are rendered as a multi-select type ahead showing user names and their corresponding email addresses

Selected Fact Sheet elements in the survey response are saved as part of the survey, as well as in the Fact Sheet itself as soon as the survey page has been finished by the survey recipient. They are shown as answers in any survey export, as well as on the Survey tab on a Fact Sheet.

Once you finished the design of your survey you can have a preview by pressing the Preview button on the top right of the survey designer.

Fact Sheet segment

As the name suggests are sections of the Fact Sheet selected by you, for example, the application lifecycle section or any other type.
Per survey, it is only possible to select one Fact Sheet type, (if you select the segment)
Be aware that Fact Sheet segments will be illustrated by a placeholder in the preview mode.

Add descriptive text for survey questions

As a creator, you can activate a text field called "add descriptive text" to create extra context for survey questions. The field supports clickable URLs too and is limited to 250 characters.

The field can be used to add any text (or URL) that helps the survey respondents to understand a question or to achieve a common understanding with the survey creator. Increasing the likelihood of getting accurate answers.

The field also creates a clear distinction between a survey question and its additional description. Thus, improving the user experience

To add descriptive text:

Step 1: Click on the 3-dot menu on the top right of a survey question

Step 2: Check the box "add descriptive text" to activate the field

Step 3: Click on the blue text field added below the survey question and enter a meaningful description.

To remove the field, simply uncheck the box under the 3-dot menu

Run your Survey

The Run Survey section enables you to scope your survey to a defined set of recipients, configure general survey settings, and configure the text of the invitation according to its purpose.

1️⃣ Fact Sheets & Recipients
Enables you to narrow down the to specific Fact Sheets and subscribers that should be addressed by the survey.

2️⃣ Selection
Provides an overview of the number of recipients and addressed Fact Sheets of the survey after scoping it. Also, it shows how many Fact Sheets do not have a relevant subscriber.
Two optional settings are available here, check for changes and send email on updated, select them if you want to automatically update the scope of the survey and notify the new recipients of any change

3️⃣ E-mail Setting
Offers you the chance to change the language of the pre-configured mail template or insert your own text according to your needs.

Placeholders

List of placeholders to use in survey email templates:

• recipientFirstName: first name of the Survey recipient
• recipientLastName: last name of the Survey recipient
• factSheetNumber: number of involved Fact Sheets
• factSheetNames: comma-separated names of all involved Fact Sheets
• addedFactSheetNumber: number of newly added Fact Sheets to the Survey
• addedFactSheetNames: comma-separated names of newly added Fact Sheets to the Survey
• surveyTitle: title of the Survey (as seen when answering the Survey)
• surveyLink: link which directs the user to LeanIX to answer the Survey
• senderFirstName: first name of the Survey sender
• senderLastName: last name of the Survey sender

Scope

Clicking on Fact Sheets or Recipients brings you to our standard search dialog. Here you can narrow down the list of applications (or other FS types) you want to address in your survey using the filter options on the left side of the window.
Select also the role of the subscribers beneath the filter bar.

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Best Practice

Introduce subscription roles according to the role model you have in your organization. This will enable you not only to address a responsible person but it will allow you to reach out to a specific e.g. Application Owner, Solution Architect or Data Security Officer.

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Behavior in Surveys for only one Fact Sheet with several subscribed users

If you have several subscribed users to only one Fact Sheet and run a survey - it will be closed by the first one who answers it.

After scoping, the selection section gives you a comprehensive overview about recipients and referenced Fact Sheets.

In case there are Fact Sheets in scope that do not have the subscription role needed - and thus will not be received by any person - you can walk through a specific list of Fact Sheets without recipients and edit the subscriptions.
This overview is important as every survey is linked to a Fact Sheet and the corresponding subscribers, if there are no subscribers then the survey cannot be completed

To test your survey select the option Test Run (at the bottom of the page). You can add any e-mail address here to see how the survey looks to your recipients.

Status & Results

As soon as you run the survey you will be forwarded to the results and status page. Here you get an overview of general information regarding your survey runs.

1️⃣ Started at
The actual date of when the survey run was initiated. By clicking on the link the overview per recipient and FS will be displayed

2️⃣ Status and refresh
Preparing (the survey is being initiated and notifications are being sent), Started (active survey open to received answers), Finished (closed survey, does not receive any more answers)
Use the refresh option to update the status of the runs

3️⃣ Recipients and Fact Sheets
Number of replies/total expected

4️⃣ Reminders and date
How many reminders have been sent and date of the last one

5️⃣ Language
the actual language the survey has been sent out in

6️⃣ Download & Settings
Provides the option to download your survey results in excel, send a reminder, finish/restart the poll, check for changes (e.g. new subscribers) and delete the run

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Attention

Make sure to finish your survey as soon as all the answers are logged so nobody will be able to edit them afterward.

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Information:

There are four different statuses for the replies in surveys:

1. New: the survey run is new
2. In progress: the user answered but didn´t finish
3. Done: finalized
4. Obsolete: answer not required based on two points:
   a) there is no user subscribed to the Fact Sheet
   b) attribute targeting in the Fact Sheet has changed, and the Survey is not in the pool anymore

Surveys Response Form

The survey response form is an essential tool for collecting valuable data and feedback from users. To enter a survey form, the recipient has 3 options, namely email link, to-do survey panel, or directly in the Survey tab of the Fact Sheet.

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Edition permissions

Be aware that if you don't have enough permissions to edit and you have been invited to a survey that includes a FS element or segment, the finalization of the survey will fail. Please contact your admin to upgrade your user status

If you need to answer questions for more than one Fact Sheet, you can jump to another Fact Sheet using the arrows on top of the survey or the dropdown to select the one you want to answer.

The results of the survey will be shown in the Survey tab on the related Fact Sheet.

An exception is Fact Sheet Segments of your survey. These values will be directly edited as updated values in the Fact Sheet itself. To keep track of any changes you have the chance to look them up in the "Last Updates" section.

New Survey Response Form

The current survey response form is often challenging for users to navigate, resulting in incomplete surveys being submitted by mistake. This leads to a loss of valuable data and an inefficient survey process.

To address these pain points, a new survey response form has been developed, which is much more intuitive and user-friendly. The new form is designed to make the survey process smoother and more efficient, ensuring that users can complete their surveys effectively and without confusion. By providing a more streamlined and user-friendly experience, the new survey response form is expected to improve the overall quality and accuracy of survey data, making it easier for organizations to make data-driven decisions.

We will explore the key features of the new survey response form and how it can be used to collect valuable data effectively. We will also provide a step-by-step guide on how to use the new form to ensure that users can navigate it with ease.

Left sidebar (with green checkmarks)

When using the new survey response form, you will notice that the left sidebar provides a convenient way to navigate between Fact Sheets. By displaying a list of all Fact Sheets included in the survey and indicating the completion status of each with a green check mark, you can easily keep track of your progress and complete the survey more efficiently. This feature helps to streamline the survey process and ensure that you don't miss any important questions.

Progress bar

When you use the survey response form, you will notice that a progress bar is placed at the top of the page. This progress bar provides a quick overview of the completion rate by showing the number of Fact Sheets that have been submitted. This feature helps you to monitor your progress and stay on track while completing the survey, making it easier for you to ensure that you complete all of the necessary Fact Sheets in a timely and efficient manner.

Auto-save

The new survey response form includes an auto-save feature that automatically saves all information in draft state, preventing data loss even if the survey is interrupted or the browser window accidentally closed. This ensures that you can continue where you left off without the need for manual saving.

Submit

You will notice that the ‘Submit’ button provides a clear call to action for you to submit your completed answers for the active Fact Sheet. However, it's important to note that the Submit button only applies to the active Fact Sheet and not the entire survey. This means that you will need to submit each Fact Sheet separately to ensure that all of your answers are recorded correctly. After submission, the Fact Sheet will become read-only. You can simply press Edit if you need to make any changes to your answers.

Improved readability

The survey content has been restructured to improve readability:

• Questions and Question Groups are shown on unique cards with large fonts, making it easier for survey respondents to read and understand the survey questions.
• The name of the active Fact Sheet is also prominently highlighted, making it clear which Fact Sheet is currently being worked on.

Overall, the new survey response form has been designed with a focus on user experience, making it more user-friendly, efficient, and effective for you to complete surveys.

Differences between Old and New Survey Response Forms

As a survey creator/admin, you should be aware of some differences between the old and new survey response forms that may impact survey respondents' experience.

"Reuse Answers" feature is not supported

Firstly, the 'Reuse Answers' feature is not supported in the new survey response form. This feature allowed respondents to reuse their answers for multiple Fact Sheets, but it has been removed from the new form to improve the overall quality and accuracy of survey data. You should inform your survey respondents about this change and provide guidance on how to complete the survey efficiently without the "Reuse Answers" feature.

Unchanged Fact Sheet Information in Survey Results

Secondly, with the old survey form, unchanged Fact Sheet information was shown as empty fields in the survey results. However, with the new survey form, when a respondent submits a Fact Sheet, they are indicating their agreement with all the information provided in the Fact Sheet. As a result, the survey results will not display empty fields if the corresponding fields in the Fact Sheet remain unchanged or unedited. As a survey creator/admin, you should be aware of this change in behavior and take it into account when analyzing survey results.

How to use the New Survey Response Form?

When creating a new survey run, the New Survey Response Form will be activated by default if the survey meets the following conditions:

• No Fact Sheet Segments are included in the survey
• 'Contacts' are not included (‘Contacts’ Fact Sheet subscribers without a LeanIX account)

Admins will have the option to enable or disable the New Survey Response Form using the toggle Response Form in the Run Survey Tab.

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Note: Surveys which are already running will not be affected.

Advanced

Contacts as recipients

There might be a situation where you want to send surveys to persons that are not using LeanIX.

Add your business contacts to the Fact Sheets that are responsible for and give them a defined Subscription Role (e.g., “Business Contact”). To find out how to define your own subscription roles, please have a look at our section Subscription Roles.

Conditional questions

Conditionality enables you to show/jump to a question depending on the answers given before. To configure a rule, you first need to choose a question the rule should be applied to and then specify the rule. In this example, the question "Are you sure you are the IT-Owner of the Application..." needs to be answered with "Yes" to let this question pop up in the survey.

Insert a link to a survey

1. Paste the word in which you insert the link into this bracket "[...]"
2. Insert the link directly behind those brackets in this parenthesis (Be aware that there should be no space between those two parentheses) "(...)"

Calculated Fields

The "Calculated Fields" functionality provides Survey Designers the option to quantify the survey results to derive a certain score. It takes standard JavaScript as an input and is expected to return an Integer, as demonstrated in the following example:

// Enter any JavaScript code to calculate a value based on the user's responses
// saved in the 'answers' object and return that value at the end. The response to
// any single questions can be accessed either by the question's index or label text.
// (Hidden questions and Fact Sheet questions are always present in the array with the
// value 'null'. Questions groups have no impact on the answers array whatsoever.)
// The following example is based on the availability demo survey:


var score = 0;
score += answers[0] === 'Many outages' ? 10 : 0;
score += 5 - answers['Which channels of communication did you use to inform your users about availability issues?'].length;
score += /crucial customer/i.test(answers[4]) ? 50 : 0;
return 'Overall score: ' + score;

Survey API

We provide an open API to access survey runs and results. Check out hereto learn more.