IdeaPlace User Guide

Innovation Portal

This is your main community, to which you will receive a link. It will take you to the either the IdeaPlace Home page or your Challenge Home page.

IdeaPlace Home page

In the figure below, you will see various areas called out on the IdeaPlace Home page. When you log in, you’ll see one or more Challenges, where you can post your own ideas in response to the Challenge Question. This Home page (Figure 1) has a Welcome area (large red rectangle) above several challenges listed below it (Figure 2).

Figure 1 – Upper part of IdeaPlace Home page

Challenges

You’ll see one or more Challenges upon login (Figure 2). Click anywhere on a Challenge (large outline in green) to View, Post, Comment or Vote on Ideas in that Challenge

Figure 2 – Middle part of IdeaPlace Home page

Figure 3 – Activity and Trending widgets on lower part of IdeaPlace Home page

Challenge Home page

When you click on a Challenge, you’ll be taken to its Home page. Click in the idea entry field to type your Idea title then click the Continue button.

Figure 4 - A Challenge and its various counters, icons, and idea entry field, with existing ideas listed below.

View Ideas page

When you click Ideas in the menu bar on a Challenge Home page (green outline), you’ll be taken to the View Ideas page, where you can filter, sort, and search existing ideas.

Figure 5 – View Ideas page

Posting an Idea

You can post an idea on the Challenge Home page. Additionally, you can Save a Draft of your idea and Publish it later. Enter the Idea Title on the Challenge Home page in the “call to action” field. (Figure 6).

Figure 6 – Enter your Idea Title in the “call to action” field (in green)

Figure 7 – Select idea image, enter idea details, and choose a category

Save Draft of Idea

If you are not ready to submit your idea, just click the Save Draft button at the bottom of the Idea entry page. You can always finish it later by going to My Profile (Figure 17).  You will see your name in the upper right corner of each page in IdeaPlace. This is a link to view your profile, where you can submit draft ideas and manage your notifications.

Figure 8 – Save a Draft or Post Idea right away

Publish Idea

When you’re ready to Publish your Draft Idea, navigate to it and click Publish on the Idea Detail page (Figure 8, blue button).

View Challenge Timeline

The View Timeline link on the Challenge Home page displays phases, phase descriptions, activities, etc. that occur during a challenge. Ideas move through predetermined phases in a challenge, where you can comment on them, vote for them, and where they’re reviewed and potentially selected as the winning idea.

Figure 9 – Click the View Timeline link on Challenge Home page (upper green box)

Figure 10 – Challenge Timeline (expanded). Current phase has the dark blue numbered dot

Advanced Search

You can perform an advanced search on the Challenge Home page by clicking the Advanced tab, typing keyword(s) into the search field (Figure 11 green box) and then pressing Enter on your keyboard. A keyword tag will then appear below the search box (arrow), and all ideas containing your keyword(s) will appear below.

Figure 11 – Advanced Search feature on the Challenge Home page

Sort

You can sort ideas on the Challenge Home page.

Figure 12 – Sort by activities dropdown on the Challenge Home page

Filter

You can also filter ideas on the Challenge Home page three different ways.

Figure 13 – Filters on Challenge Home: by Stage, Category, and Viewed/not Viewed

You can also filter challenges on the IdeaPlace Home page (green box in Figure 14).

 Figure 14 – Filter Challenges on the Challenge Home page

Phases and Stages in a Challenge

Phases are non-overlapping “periods of time” throughout a challenge, during which distinct activities are enabled for participants, such as submitting ideas or voting on ideas.  (Figure 9 shows the Pairwise phase underway in a challenge. 

• Phases are timebound events that occur in a challenge
• Each phase consists of different activities for users to participate in
• A Standard Challenge consists of 4-5 phases, typically:

1. Soft Launch
2. Ideation and Collaboration
3. Voting and Commenting
4. Expert Review
5. Idea Selection

Stages provide a way for Administrators to manage, review, and select winning ideas. They are a structure by which a challenge narrows down a number of ideas to one.

• Ideas move from stage to stage based on graduation criteria configured by the Administrator 
• Graduation Criteria increase as ideas move from stage to stage.
• A Standard Challenge typically consists of seven stages:

1. Idea Submission
2. Crowd Validation
3. Expert Review
4. Idea Prioritization
5. Idea Selection
6. Idea Implementation (closed stage)
7. Idea Archiving (closed stage)

Figure 15 – Challenges Stages in the Challenge Lifecycle with ideas as “bubbles”. Fewer bubbles appear the further along the stage is in the Challenge Lifecycle

My Profile

On any page in IdeaPlace, you can access your user profile by clicking the down arrow next to your Avatar (profile picture). Then click the View Profile link to navigate to the following features.

Figure 16 – How to View and Edit your Profile

Go To menu

The Go To menu in the Planview IdeaPlace header (Figure 13) provides an easy route to any other challenge or community that you have access to. In addition, it provides context by displaying the name of the challenge or community you are currently in, at the top of the menu.

Figure 21 – The Go To menu

Pairwise, Ballot Box and Star Voting

If you’ve received a notification that Pairwise voting has begun, click Pairwise in the upper Menu Bar. Choose between each of the two ideas that are presented. A counter below the ideas will show your progress (green arrow in figure below). Pairwise is one type of voting you may be presented with in the Voting Phase of the Challenge.

Figure 22 – Pairwise voting and counter

Figure 23 – Star Voting

To vote on an idea simply to like it, go to the Idea Detail page > Quick View, and click the Ballot Box icon (green box in Figure 24). You will see the votes increment and “I voted” appear beneath the Ballot Box upon voting.

Figure 24 – Liking an idea with the Ballot Box icon

Commenting on an Idea and Liking a Comment

Click the Comments tab on the Idea Detail page. Click in the field that says, “Write a new comment” and begin typing your comment. Click the Submit button when finished.

Figure 25 – Comments tab on Idea Detail page

Figure 26 – Submitting a Comment on an Idea

Figure 27 – Liking a Comment – click the heart icon and it will change color