4S, our embedded self-service analytics tool, is an easy to use charting tool that every user of our ERP can use to create their charts and analytics. The simplicity of its design merits attention. 4S is so intuitive that a user can learn to do graphs in less than three minutes and can do a chart in less than thirty seconds. We wanted to empower every user to self-perform their analytics, and that is how the bottom-up design was born. The 4S logo was designed by us to represent four steps that user does to make a chart. The logo is a simple combination of number 4, and alphabet S. S stands for steps, and in total, the logo indicates four steps. The four sequences of steps involved in making a chart depict the letter “4” with four different icons. Each icon represents one step. In Retail ViVA, a user can easily prepare a view of their focussed data set in any InfoGrid through a simple drag & drop of relevant columns to a group. Users can also use advanced filters to narrow further their focussed data set through filters. Users keep creating several InfoGrid views for various use case needs. Retail ViVA stores all the InfoGrid configurations into its database. Our 4S analytics tool takes user-created InfoGrid views as the base. Step 1 is selecting the right InfoGrid for chart preparation. The top limp of the vertical slide of letter 4 represents this indicating the selection of InfoGrid from the Retail ViVA database. Just below that top limb, Step 2 is the selection of an appropriate chart that suits the right visualization of selected InfoGrid. The bar chart icon in the lower limb of the vertical side of letter 4 represents this. Step 3 is about completing all settings relevant to the selected chart, like titles, labels, orientation, grids, data labels, and the like. The second icon, which is horizontally next to step 2 icon, represents this. Step 4 is about saving the prepared chart for publishing in the presentation layer for user consumption. The downward vertical limb below step 3 icon represents this. The 4S brand identity represents simplicity with which users can prepare charts and enjoy analytics of their data without any IT knowledge. The video below clearly depicts the simplicity of 4S tool and how users can make charts within 30 seconds. Our 4S tool is simple to learn and use hiding all the ingenuity of its sophisticated design away from the user. It is a real example of design thinking and making complexity a simplicity to the absolute pleasure of a citizen user. Our 4S is a pleasurable experience for every user and appreciated by many for its ease of use and power of analytics. Like the simplicity of the tool, we created a simple brand logo to represent this grand design of ours. Written by (Ragu)nathan Kannan
