A survey is a new feature that provides a more powerful and flexible way to gather input from stakeholders outside your core BlueDolphin users.
NOTE: The Survey feature is replacing the Guest Links functionality.
This functionality enables users to easily create, share, and manage surveys, allowing external stakeholders to contribute directly to the Enterprise Architecture repository.
Key capabilities of this feature include:
Sending surveys to multiple recipients simultaneously via email.
Including multiple objects in a single survey (limited to the same object definition).
Combining multiple questionnaires within one survey.
Customizing survey permissions, deadlines, and titles.
Sharing surveys through a direct link.
You can find the survey functionality on every questionnaire tab of a BlueDolphin object. You can access the questionnaire tab from either the Views or Objects tab.
Create and configure a survey
NOTE: Make sure to enable the object viewer while working from a view.
To create a survey from a specific object, click an existing ArchiMate object from the View or Objects tab, and select the attached questionnaire you want to send.
Click the Create survey button to configure the survey.
You can configure a survey flow in three steps as given below,
1. Object configuration
Enter the Survey title, which clearly describes the purpose of the survey to stakeholders.
You can view the Object definition, which is pre-filled based on the selected object. This field is not configurable.
The Select object(s) dropdown displays all the objects from the same object definition. You can select up to 10 objects.
In the Select questionnaire(s) dropdown, you can select up to 5 questionnaires. Be careful with the survey length for recipient usability.
Click Next to the General configuration step.
2. General configuration
In the general configuration, from the Permission level dropdown, set the appropriate permission level for survey participants. By default, it is set to read and write.
Enter up to 10 email addresses of the users you want to send the survey to in the Add recipient(s) field. Press Space, comma, semicolon, or Enter after typing each email address to ensure the text converts in chip. It also validates your email address inputs.
Note: This field is optional. If you do not add recipients, you can still copy the survey link for manual distribution post activation.The scheduling service field is set to Send Immediately, and is not configurable. Surveys will be sent immediately upon activation.
Choose a deadline from the dropdown menu to define how long users have to complete the survey. The default deadline is set to 2 weeks.
Enter any additional instructions relevant to the survey in the Notes. This text is visible to all the recipients.
Click Next for preview.
3. Preview
Here, you can preview your survey. You can check the number of users, objects, and questionnaires you have added.
Click Activate Survey to launch the survey and send email notifications to all recipients. Once activated, you cannot edit the survey. To make changes, you must create a new survey.
Once the survey is activated, you can copy the survey link here for manual distribution. The system displays the most recent response, following the "Last Input, First Display" rule.
Survey Recipient Flow
This article explains the steps recipients must follow to complete a survey.
When you receive the survey invitation via email, click the Open Survey button. This action will redirect you to the survey start page, where you can view the configuration made.
When the survey opens in the browser, recipients will see a preview of the survey summary, which may include any notes added by the sender.
The summary provides the following details:
Object definition: The type of object associated with the survey.
Number of objects: The total number of objects included in the survey.
Number of questionnaires: The total number of questionnaires included for each object.
Deadline: The deadline by which recipients must complete the survey.
The survey interface for recipients is designed as follows:
Each object is displayed on a separate page, and all the related questionnaires are shown in expandable and collapsible sections.
Survey fields display according to the BlueDolphin configuration settings defined by the sender.
Questionnaire fields with a set description show an (i) icon to survey recipients. When users hover over the icon, it shows the description, which provides additional context or guidance for completing the field. Fields without a description do not display the icon.
Questionnaire fields
Date: You can either type your date or use the date picker. The date is displayed in the format set in the language settings in your browser.
For example, if the browser language is set to Dutch, the date is displayed indd-mm-yyyyformat.Checkbox field: Instead of a checkbox, Yes/No is displayed.
Currency and Numbers: follows the language settings in your browser.
Euro: Displays number with comma(,) as a decimal sign(e.g., 255,00)
Dollar: Displays number with dot(.) as a decimal sign( (e.g., 255.00)
Multi-line text: You can resize the text box and add your content. To resize, click and drag the two diagonal lines at the bottom-right corner of the text box.
Text: You can add the text as much as you have configured in the questionnaire.
Hyperlink field: Opens the link in a new window
Relationship field: The icon shape and look depend on your BlueDolphin configuration and which object definition the relationship needs to be created to.
For more information on managing the fields in the Questionnaire, refer to the Manage Object Questionnaires article.
To successfully submit the responses and ensure the input is recorded meaningfully, the recipient must complete the Acknowledgment section.
The name entered here is logged and visible in the History tab for traceability. Submit the survey once complete.