How does Viz handle fast-moving artifacts?
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Answer
The FAQ outlines how Viz handles fast-moving artifacts. In this context, fast-moving artifacts are those that are opened and closed within the same day. This is particularly relevant if you have long-running change detection times.
Learn more in the sections below.
Overview
Artifacts that are opened and closed within the same day will typically have a lower resolution of detail than those that span longer periods. The reason for this should be fairly intuitive.
Let’s say you have four flow states that an artifact can pass through from creation to done: Under Consideration, In Product Definition, In Development, and Shipped. For this example, let’s also assume that change detection occurs every 2 hours and finishes within that 2-hour window so that each change detection completes before the next one starts. Day boundaries are determined according to the time zone specified for the organization.
Using the parameters above, let's take a look at a few examples of how Viz handles non-fast and fast-moving artifacts as they move through a value stream.
Non-fast-moving artifacts
Short change detection time
On day 1, an artifact is opened. The newly opened artifact stays in 'Under Consideration' for the day and is detected by multiple change detections.
On day 2, the artifact is moved to 'In Product Definition' during the first part of the day and is detected by at least 1 change detection. The artifact then moves to 'In Development' and is also detected by at least 1 change detection.
On day 5, the artifact is moved to 'Shipped' and counted in the Flow Velocity® metric.
In this scenario, the artifact moved through all four flow states. When the artifact was in active/waiting states, it was counted in the Flow Load® metric. When the artifact moved to 'Shipped,' it was counted in the Flow Velocity®, Flow Distribution®, Flow Time, and Flow Efficiency® metrics.
Fast-moving artifacts
Short change detection time
On day 1, an artifact is opened. The newly opened artifact is detected by a change detection in the 'Under Consideration' state. Before the next change detection, the artifact moves to 'In Product Definition,' 'In Development,' and finally 'Shipped.' Then, the next change detection begins and detects that the artifact is in the 'Shipped' state.
In this scenario, Viz only counted the artifact in the 'Under Consideration' and 'Shipped' states. When the artifact was in the 'Under Consideration' state, it was counted in the Flow Load® metric. When the artifact moved to 'Shipped,' it was counted in the Flow Velocity®, Flow Distribution®, Flow Time, and Flow Efficiency® metrics.
Long change detection time
For this scenario, let’s assume that an organization has a 20-hour change detection time. This could be due to customer restrictions on the start time of their change detections or the volume of artifacts that need to be scanned.
On day 1, an artifact is opened in the 'Under Consideration' state. The newly opened artifact then moves to 'In Product Definition,' 'In Development,' and 'Shipped' before a single change detection completes.
If change detection completes in the same day that the artifact was opened and closed, Viz will not count it in the Flow Load® metric because it was never detected in an active or waiting state. However, Viz will count the artifact in the Flow Velocity®, Flow Distribution®, Flow Time, and Flow Efficiency® metrics.
If change detection crosses the day boundary (e.g., the artifact opens and closes on day 1, but change detection first detects the artifact in a done state on day 2), the artifact will not be counted in the Flow Velocity®, Flow Distribution®, Flow Time, and Flow Efficiency® metrics.
This is because Viz has a rule to only record state changes for new artifacts entering scope if the change is detected on the same day that the artifact is created. This prevents counting a large number of closed artifacts when performing initial change detections. This scenario could occur when first onboarding to Viz, when a new tool connection is created, or when a new project is added for an existing tool connection.