Process Dashboard 2.5

Process Dashboard Version 2.5 has been released, containing many significant new features.

  • Significant enhancements have been made to the Work Breakdown Structure Editor:
    • A “Zoom” feature is now available for the WBS.
    • The workflow editor now provides optional columns to enter the estimated yield and defect injection rate for each workflow step. These parameters make it possible to generate workflow-driven quality plans for a project.
    • After you apply a workflow in the WBS that spreads time across phases, you may wish to delete a few steps that aren’t needed for the component in question. When you do, the time from the deleted tasks will now be spread across the remaining tasks based on phase percentages, leaving the overall component estimate unchanged.
    • New, prototype integration has been added between the Team Dashboard and external systems (such as TFS or JIRA). Organizations that are interested in piloting this functionality are encouraged to contact the Process Dashboard development team.
  • A number of user interface changes have been added for greater convenience:
    • The WBS Editor window now remembers its last size and location on startup, along with the preferred widths of various columns.
    • The WBS Editor toolbar now includes a “Save” button.
    • A new “Open Link” button on the WBS Editor toolbar makes it easy to quickly visit any external websites associated with the currently selected item (for example, when URLs are embedded in the task note).
    • The personal dashboard toolbar now includes a “Find Task” button.
    • The defect log editor now provides a button to add a new defect.
    • When you choose the “Earned Value Charts” option from the script menu, it will now display charts in an interactive, zoomable window.
    • The defect creation window now stays on top of other windows, making it easier to capture defect data while you are working in another program like an IDE. To help maintain context, the window also displays a label indicating the project and component that the defect is being logged against.
    • The main dashboard window now remembers its last location on startup.
    • The dashboard now uses a native visual theme on Windows computers, allowing it to blend in more naturally with other applications.
  • The reports have been improved in several ways:
    • In the Team Dashboard, the Rollup Plan Summary report now includes a “Workflow Summary” section, which rolls up data according to the steps in the team’s custom workflows. This gives teams the power to analyze data using their own processes (rather than just the metrics collection framework).
    • The Earned Value report now includes an option to hide cost information. This can be useful if you need to share progress/status with a customer or stakeholder, but you don’t want them to be able to reverse-engineer your hourly rate. To use this feature, click the “Customize” link on the earned value report and check the box to hide cost data.
    • The Project Data Scanner now includes a section listing components whose final workflow task was marked complete, but which have earlier tasks that weren’t closed, or that have no time logged.
  • The LOC counter can now count changes between various commits in a Git working directory.
  • The performance of the “Sync to WBS” operation has been dramatically improved for personal dashboards that contain a lot of historical data.
  • Many changes have been made under-the-hood to improve the reliability and security of various web-based tools and APIs.
  • The dashboard installer has been updated to reflect the recent release of PSP and TSP materials under a Creative Commons license.
  • A new Visual Studio plugin is available, making it possible for developers to interact with the Process Dashboard and collect data without leaving their IDE. Contact the development team if you would like to help pilot this new functionality. If you use a different IDE and are interested in developing a similar plugin, please contact the Process Dashboard development team for information about the new REST APIs that support this goal.
  • Fixes are included for a number of bugs.

Upgrade Considerations

Teams are encouraged to upgrade together. Some features may not work properly until all team members have upgraded, and exported their data at least once.

Download

To download version 2.5, visit https://www.processdash.com/download