General UI comparison: Cognos 11.1 vs. 11.2.4
Although Cognos Analytics 12 is available, it’s a brand new release so many organizations will likely hold off on upgrading. Meanwhile, Cognos version 11.2.4, which appeared at the end of 2022, is a stable long-term release. Read our favorite new features in 11.2.4 and the reporting UI comparison between 11.1 and 11.2.4 for more insight. Bottom line, if you are thinking of upgrading to take advantage of newer features, this release should be considered.
This blog focusses on some changes to the user interface. We’ll be posting a separate blog to discuss changes to reporting between 11.1 and 11.2.4.
Overall design
Cognos Analytics 11.2.4 adopted Carbon, the IBM open-source design system for all digital products and experiences. This design system streamlines the web client user experience and unifies the products in the IBM family. Learn more about Carbon.
Welcome page
The main changes to the welcome page are primarily due to the switch to Carbon, although you’ll find a few new features as well.
New look and feel. The welcome page has a new look and feel, complete with a new color palette. To hide the Welcome banner, use the Close icon. Or go to the Personal menu → Profile and Settings → Settings. Here you can toggle the welcome banner on or off.
New Quick Launch section. Use these tiles to quickly start creating content in Cognos Analytics. For example, the Prepare Data tile takes you directly into data modules where Present Data lets you create a dashboard, story or report. All of these tiles are customizable.
New Samples section. Use this section to quickly access the many samples that are installed with Cognos Analytics. Click on any of the tiles or use View All Samples. The Samples folder is opened in the Content view.
Changes to the Application bar. Some items have been removed from the application bar. The More option is no longer available. Quick links have been removed not only from the application bar, but from product entirely.
To set a page as your home, go to the Personal menu → Profile and Settings → Settings.
Open menu
The Open menu is the main point of access to Cognos Analytics. It replaces the content navigation pane in previous releases.
Click the Open menu icon to view existing content in Team content, My content and other folders. Also use the menu option to create new content, upload files and access the administration interface (if security permissions allow). This menu can be customized by your Cognos admin team.
Full-page content view
All content such as Team content, My content and Samples is now displayed in a full-page list or tile view (the default). The different folders are displayed on separate tabs.
- As in previous versions, My content and Team content are always available.
- If you have Samples installed, the Samples tab will appear as well.
- A new folder, External content may appear if the Watson Studio URL has been configured by your Cognos administrator. Any custom folders you have in your environment, will show up here too.
Other items of note in content view:
- Look for the new Actions toolbar, available in both the list and tile view. Use this toolbar to organize items in folders, change how content is displayed, add subfolders and URLs, and perform actions on individual items. The toolbar is dynamic and will change depending on the number and type of items you have selected.
- You will also find the Filter and Sort icons on the Actions toolbar.
- From the More menu, you can perform actions specific to a selected item.
- From Create, you can create new objects relevant to the selected item.
- For all types of items, a Details option is available. The Details pane includes things like the object’s metadata, description, creation and modification dates. The different buttons under Details will be relevant to the selected item. For example, Create will allow for the creation of new items related to the object. You can also create new content and upload files directly from the content view by using the buttons at the top of the page.
Navigating open items
If multiple items are open, they will now show at the top of the page. The total number of open items appears as a tab. Use the down arrow to navigate between items or to close open items. This replaces the Welcome navigation that previously appeared in the center of the screen on 11.1.
Changes to search
Search functionality has been moved into the global application bar and is now available from any context in the product.
Multi-term search has also changed. It is based on an AND operator instead of OR. For example, if you search for “quarterly performance,” the system will return results with both words, not just results with a single word. This setting can be changed by your system admin but will apply to all users.
Redesigned Personal menu
The Personal menu replaces My Preferences. The display and organization have changed; some items have been renamed and others removed altogether. To adjust your preferences, click Profile and settings directly under your username. This takes you to the Profile tab with your personal information and a Settings tab with preferred product settings. From here you can change your language, default report formats, your credentials, any personal API keys and logging levels.
Quick Launch changes
Quick Launch is now called Quick Upload; however, the functionality itself has not changed. Use Quick Launch to upload a file, then immediately use that uploaded file in a data module, exploration, dashboard or notebook.
Change to Edit icon
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When looking at content, you’ll see the Edit icon has changed. Gone is the pencil icon that has been around for a long time. It has been replaced with a toggle switch icon. Use the Edit toggle switch to enable the edit mode in dashboard, stories and reports. |
Summary
While there isn’t a huge amount of change to the user interface for Cognos Analytics 11.2.4, some of the visual modifications may make initial navigation a challenge. However, after you become familiar with these changes, you’ll likely find they help make your overall Cognos Analytics experience more enjoyable. Check out our Knowledge Library for more articles about 11.2.4, including installation tips, favorite features and what’s new.
