Update on Platform Enhancements

There's a saying - "Software is never completed - it just gets abandoned."

At PoliTraQ, we're constantly looking for new ways to improve the platform, and help our users communicate more effectively with both government and internal stakeholders. Many of the features our users enjoy the most were built in the last 12 months - in another 12 months time, the platform will likely have grown just as much (if not more).

It occured to me the other day that we haven't always done the best job at communicating these changes to our users. As such, many users may not be familiar with some of our more-recent changes. I wanted to take this opportunty to highlight some of the more recent changes to PoliTraQ - to explain both why we've made certain changes, and to help you get the most out of PoliTraQ.

Many of our recent changes live behind-the-scenes, but still influences the user experience. Our recent server re-configuration, for example, has dramatically reduced page loading times; to the point where some users have asked if we retired our "Hansard Haiku" loading screens. The answer, of course, is no - but now its less likely you'll see them in 90% of use cases.

On the other hand, the two changes I'd like to highlight today represent new capacities for users, as well as (minor) changes in platform use. Neither of these adjustments are required changes - you can still use the PoliTraQ platform as you have all the way along. However, if utilized, these small tweaks could make a major difference.

Priority Categories

(For our consulting clients - Priority is the term given to Client entries on the in-house side of the platform. They fill the role of "groups of related files" in that environment, but without the Prospecting Pipeline or other business development features)

As "groups of related files", Priorities are one of the most open (and oftentimes confusing) parts of onboarding for new PoliTraQ teams. Because Files can be linked to more than one Priority, shaping this relationship can have major downstream effects on your records-keeping efforts. From observing how our users set-up their Priorities, we found a clear pattern emerging in the way teams are choosing to define the relationships between Files:

By Jurisdiction: Federal, Provincial, Territorial, Municipal, etc.

By the type of outcome sought: Regulatory Change, Legislative Change, Funding, etc. - and

By their relation to internal/organizational strategic objectives: i.e., a university linking research-oriented advocacy Files to their institution's Strategic Plan pillar on "Research Intensity"

In demonstrating the platform to prospective users, I've found myself using the same set of examples when outlining Priorities and their function.

Realizing that this was the way our clients already used the platform, we've now instituted a Category field for Priorities - allowing you to further sub-divide your Priorities, and garner more usable insights from your Engagement data.

This change will also be adopted in other areas of the platform, starting with the main dash. Now, under the Engagement Insights box, you can display category-level breakdowns of overall Engagement levels - allowing for more clear and meaningful reporting on activities and outcomes.

Links to Studies & Legislation

PoliTraQ collects, curates, and makes available extensive legislative and policy data - including bills and committee meetings, legislative agendas, and committee movement. By co-locating your research and advocacy data, we can provide contextually-appropriate information where and when you need it most.

To help expand this capacity moving forward, we've added the ability to tie specific Engagement records, Files, and Priorities to ongoing Committee studies and Legislation.

These connections mean we can now layer links to these ongoing activities on-top of the data you already store in PoliTraQ - allowing you to quickly review the status of key measures, track the progress of ongoing studies, and more.

In the coming week's, we'll be deepening these links - providing a full rundown of activities relating to ongoing studies, embedding reports and other features, and more. Stay tuned to the PoliTraQ blog for more details.