1. Collaborator - Collaborators are invited early in the process to view the analysis as it is being designed and to make suggestions to the moderator on how to improve the analysis.


2. Respondent - Once the design phase is completed, respondents vote on the factors that comprise the analysis and provide insights.  After their initial vote, respondents can view their individual results in a 4-quadrant matrix.  They can then update their votes (their initial votes are saved for comparison).


3. Observer - Once voting has begun (and after it has closed), observers can view the group results (including all of the insights) as well as filter them by category and attributes.

You may have been given a combination of these roles.  Note:  Even if you are not invited as a collaborator, you should read that section because it explains functionality that is also used for respondents and observers.  Observer-only participants should read the respondent section for the same reason.  By now you probably can't wait to get started, so let's set you up with a free account.

Click on the "Create Account" button on the menu bar and fill in the required information.  Make sure that you use the same email address that the invitation was sent to.  Otherwise iC will not be able to match the invitation with your account.

After you click the "Save" button, you will be taken to the main page with "Welcome [Your Name]" at the top.  If you don't see this, click the "Home" button.  The main page is where you create/access analyses you have created (top table) and access your invitations (bottom table).  If you were invited to an analysis, you should see a link in the invitations table describing the name of the analysis.  Next to that link is the date you were invited, the role(s) you were asked to play, the current status of the analysis ("Design", "Voting", "Causes", "What-Ifs" or "On-Going"), and the name of the moderator who invited you as a link so you can send that person an email.

1. Collaborator/Design - If you have a "C" in your "Role(s)" and the status is set to "Design", then you will be taken to the suggestions page.  On the left side of the page you will see a link back to the main menu.  Below that is a manila box containing the name, description and whether the analysis is set to anonymous.  Anonymous will always be set you "Yes".  This means that any suggestions, votes and insights provided will be anonymous to everyone else (including the moderator), so you can feel free to express your mind (as long as your writing style isn't traceable).  For more on this, check out our Privacy Policy.

   The green box below contains the factors that go into the analysis.  They are numbered in the order in which they were created.  Next to a factor may be a category (optional), which is a way to group factors for sorting and filtering.  A category can be called anything and there is no limit as to how many categories can be created for an analysis (but only one per factor).  It's best if the categories are mutually exclusive (i.e. their concepts don't overlap), but that is difficult to achieve perfectly.  Next to the category is the type (also optional).  Type describes whether the factor is internal or external to the individual/organization and whether it has a positive or negative effect.  There are 4 types:

   • Strength - A strength is a positive internal characteristic of the organization.  Generally it is something you possess today as opposed to in the future.
   
   
   • Weakness - The flipside of strength, a weakness is a negative internal characteristic of the organization that exists in the present.
   
   
   • Opportunity - Opportunities are external to the organization and are positive.  They can exist in the future.
   
   
   • Constraint - The flipside of opportunities, constraints are external and are negative.  They can also exist in the future.

   Some factors won't have a clear-cut type.  Respondent must choose the type that most closely fits their perception of the factor.  Types selected by the moderator can be changed by respondents for their vote.  The purpose of pre-filling types is one of convenience so that the respondent has less to fill out, but also has the downside of biasing the respondent to think about the factor in a certain way.

   Sorting capability in iC is very powerful.  All the columns can be sorted by clicking on the link for the column heading.  The first time you click on the link, the column will be sorted in ascending order (represented by an up-arrow).  The second time you click the link, it will re-sort in descending order (represented by a down-arrow).  If you click on additional column headings, it will perform lower order sorts (in either ascending or descending order depending on how many times you click the link).  The arrows will be numbered according to the order of precedence of sorting.  To reset the sorting, click the "Reset Sorting" link.

   On the right side of the page is a suggestion box.  Enter your suggestion and click the "Add/Update Suggestions" button.  That suggestion is now viewable by the moderator.  You can update that suggestion anytime by making changes and clicking the "Add/Update Suggestions" button again.  Once you click the "Submit" button, you will see a new empty suggestion box to enter another suggestion.  Next to each submitted suggestion box, you will see a red "X".  Clicking it will delete the suggestion (after verifying that you are sure you want to do this) so that it is no longer viewable by you or the moderator.

   

2. Respondent/Voting - If you have a "R" in your role and the status is set to "Voting", then you will be taken to a survey.  Depending on how the moderator sets up the survey, you may see an attributes survey at the top of the page inside a rose-colored box.  Attributes help the observers to understand how different groups of people viewed the analysis.  This survey is optional.  Note:  If you have taken a survey before, some or all of the attributes survey may be pre-filled to save you the trouble.  No one will know what attributes you have selected.

After the attributes survey (if there is one), you will see a manila-colored box with the name of the analysis, the description of the analysis and whether your responses will be anonymous.

After that you will see a 2-tone green box containing the analysis survey.  Before you fill out the survey, decide if you want to sort it first (sorting is not as sophisticated here as described above).  Once you have begun to fill out the survey do not re-sort or you will lose your responses.  There is no time limit for taking the survey once you begin (your session will never time out), so take all the time you need.  Also it is important that you do not submit the survey before you have addressed all of the factors because the system will count your non-votes as indications that those factors were unimportant (at least they will be considered that way as your first impression).

For each factor you must select a type (described above).  Some or all of the types may be pre-selected for you, but feel free to change them if you don't agree with the moderator.  Next to the type is the score for the factor.  It indicates the extent to which the type you selected is true and inpacts the analysis.  If you give the score a "0", you are saying that it is a non-factor.  Finally there is an insights text box where you have the option of explaining why you voted the way you did.  Your insights could be helpful to other respondents/observers in influencing their perception of certain factors.



Once you click the "Submit" button, you will be taken to a page that graphs your responses onto a 4-quadrant matrix.  The blue squares are the factors and the circle is the overall analysis (average of the squares).  Some of the factors will be obscured or completely hidden by other factors.  To find a factor, you can click on its number to the right of the graph and it will be highlighted in yellow/bold.  The color of the circle will vary according to how spread-out the squares are.  The more tightly packed the factors, the bluer the circle (stable).  The more spread-out the factors, the more the color shifts through to green or red (volatile).  The more volatile an analysis, the more unpredictable the outcome.



Above the graph is the survey comparing your initial survey to any later changes.  If you also are an observer, you will be able to compare your votes to that of the group.  You can update your responses as many times as you wish before voting is closed.  The survey uses the more powerful form of sorting described above.  Be careful to submit any updates to your responses before you re-sort or you will lose your changes.  Next to that (if you are also an observer) is the group average ("Grp").  This is how the the group on average felt about the factor.  "Con" stands for concensusamong the group.  The "#" column next to insights shows the number of insights recorded for each factor (including yours).  To view the insights, click on the numbered link (if a link exists - there may not be any insights for a given factor) and you will see a popup displaying them.



"Viewer Control" at the top of the page has a drop-down menu called "View Graph by Type".  This is where you can switch the graph between your analysis and the group's analysis (if you are also an observer) as well as between first pass (or impression) and latest pass.  The initials in the circle will indicate which view is being represented.  You may notice that for the group's analysis, the squares can change color.  That is because a factor's volatility can be measured for a group's analysis, but not for an individual's.  Also note that the more the color shifts for a factor, the lower the concordance.

The print icon to the upper-right of the page will take you to a more printable page.

3. Respondent/What-If Scenarios - After you've participated in the assessment, you may also be asked to participate in one or more what-if scenarios.  A what-if scenario is typically a strategy designed to address deficiencies identified in the analysis.  You may be invited to analyze the strategy in the same way as described above or the moderator may decide to skip the analysis of the strategy and go directly to testing how it would affect the assessment as a what-if.  If the analysis has moved to the what-if stage, the status indicated for the analysis on the welcome page will read "What-Ifs".

When you click on the analysis, it will take you to a page listing the available what-if scenarios.  If you are also an observer, the first option in the list is not a what-if, but the results from the group's latest pass of voting.  Each option after that will take you to a survey on how that what-if will affect the assessment.



The what-if survey will look similar to the survey you filled out before with a few differences.  First you will notice that the what-if scenario is at the top of the page highlighted in red.  Instead of the "Type" column, you will see "Your Latest Pass", which includes the last type/score you selected for each factor.  Next to that, score is pre-filled with your last selection.  Score has a wider range here because it can shift between strengths-weaknesses and opportunities-constraints.  That's the reason for the letter preceding the value. It signifies the type being selected.



In the results page you will see 2 new options in the "View Graph by Type" menu, "View Your What-If" and "View Group's What-If".  The first shows the shift between your latest pass and your what-if.  The second shows the shift in the group.  The survey will now include the group's average shift for the likelihood and impact.  The insights listed only relate to that what-if and not the original assessment.


 
4. Observer/Voting or Closed - What the observer sees is very similar to the results page that the respondent sees with a few differences other than those already explained above.  First, viewer control is enhanced to include the ability to filter by category and by attributes (if any).  To select or de-select multiple attributes, hold down the "Ctrl" key while clicking on each attribute.  If you filter the attributes so that there are fewer than 3 respondents represented, iC will not show you the results in order to preserve anonymity.

If you are not also a respondent, you will see two other differences.  First, viewer control will not let you see your individual results (you don't have any).  Also the "Analysis Results" table below will not show type, likelihood, impact or your individual insight.  Instead, you will see "Internal (X-Axis)", "External (Y-Axis)" and "Avg".  Internal is the range between strength (positive number) and weakness (negative number).  External is the range between opportunity (positive number) and constraint (negative number).  Avg is the average of Internal and External.