The new Portfolio Designer has a modernized and more intuitive interface. You can easily add, filter, reschedule, and reprioritize projects, among other functionalities.

• Explore the Benefits of the New Portfolio Designer
• Prerequisites
  • Required User Rights
• Where to Find
• Current Beta Functionality
  • Toolbar
  • Project Section
  • Resource Section
• Automatic Synchronization of Your Data
• What's Coming Next
• Questions and Feedback

Explore the Benefits of the New Portfolio Designer

• Experience noticeable performance improvements, especially when working with large data sets, while continuing to enjoy a smooth and interactive workflow
• Work within a modern, visually appealing interface featuring clearly structured sections
• Customize your project section, Gantt chart, resource section, and resource histogram with flexibility. Resize, minimize, or hide elements as needed

Prerequisites

To use the new Portfolio Designer, beta access must be enabled for both your system (by administrators) and in your user profile. You can find all the details in the article Meisterplan's Beta Program.

Required User Rights

• To add projects, you need the Add Projects permission under Manage > User Groups > Project & Resource Planning > General Project Rights.
• To change a project's rank, you need the Change Rank permission under Manage > User Groups > Project & Resource Planning > General Project Rights
• To move a project, you need at least the Mine permission under Manage > User Groups > Project & Resource Planning > Edit Projects, as well as the Change Project Schedule permission under Detailed Project Rights

Where to Find

Open the Portfolio Designer in the left sidebar. In the top right, you'll find a toggle that allows you to switch between the classic view and the new version (rocket icon):

Current Beta Functionality

The beta version of the Portfolio Designer is under active development. With this first step, the following basic functions are available, and will gradually be supplemented with additional features:

Toolbar

In the toolbar, you can select the allocation unit and zoom level, search for projects, add new projects manually or via import, and undo moving a project. Under Configure View, you can also adjust the following settings:

• Planning Interval: Displayed on the timeline directly in the Gantt chart. This dropdown is only available if at least one planning interval has been defined in your system.
• Gantt Color Scheme
• 2nd & 3rd Column: The selected fields are displayed as additional columns next to the list or projects.
• Display Resources, Teams, and Roles by: Choose whether resources, teams, and roles assigned to a project are grouped by role or displayed alphabetically by name.
• Aggregate Allocations by Role: Assigned resources, teams, and roles are grouped by role, and their allocations are summed for each role.
• Show All Milestones
• Aggregate Resources by Role: Select this option to sum capacities and allocations per role in the resource section.

Project Section

• Projects: Just like in the classic Portfolio Designer, you can add, duplicate, delete, and filter projects. In the Gantt chart, you can reschedule projects using drag & drop and reprioritize them by dragging them up or down in the project list.
• Allocations: Just like in the classic Portfolio Designer, you can assign resources, teams, and roles. Using the context menu, you can replace, remove, or staff assigned resources, teams, and roles.
  • Edit Allocations: Like in the Team Planner, you can edit time grid cells using mouse and keyboard combinations. When you click a cell, use the three-dot menu to replace the assigned resource, team, or role, or to add their remaining capacity.
  • Overallocations: Like in the Team Planner, time grid cells in which a resource, team, or role is overallocated are highlighted in red. In addition, every resource, team, and role with at least one overallocated cell is marked with a red line in front of its picture. Any project with at least one overallocation is also marked with a red line in front of the project name.
• Display and Expand Programs: Click the arrow icon next to a program to expand it and view its associated projects. The number in the circle next to each program indicates how many projects are assigned to that program. Programs without assigned projects are automatically hidden.
• Milestones: 
  • Add Milestones: To add a milestone, hover over a project bar and click the plus icon.
  • Edit and Delete Milestones: To edit or delete a milestone, hover over the milestone and click the three dots to select the desired action.
  • Add Dependency: Hover over the desired milestone and click the three dots, then select Add Dependency. You can create the milestone dependency either as a target (requires another milestone as a prerequisite) or as a source (required as a prerequisite for another milestone).

Resource Section

• Filter Resources, Teams, and Roles
• View Allocation Details: Click the expand icon or an area in the allocation histogram of a resource, team, or role to view the corresponding allocation details, such as remaining capacity:
  
• Live Preview: When you change allocations in the project section, the resource section provides a real-time preview of how those changes affect capacities and allocations. This allows you to identify potential bottlenecks early and take targeted action.
• Allocation Unit in the Histogram: The resource histogram considers the allocation unit selected in the toolbar (FTE, days, hours) and thereby provides a more accurate representation of capacity fluctuations. This makes it easier to identify issues and manage your portfolio effectively.

Automatic Synchronization of Your Data

Any changes you make in the beta version of the Portfolio Designer are automatically synchronized with the current version, and vice versa.

When you edit projects, your updates are instantly applied in both versions of the Portfolio Designer. The views are fully synchronized, ensuring that all adjustments are immediately visible across all relevant perspectives. It makes no difference whether the changes are made by you, other users, or through an import.

What's Coming Next

• Add, prioritize, and move programs with just a few clicks
• View and edit allocations directly in time grid or phase mode
• Group projects flexibly in the Portfolio Designer by fields from the dropdown menu using the Group by setting
• Use the Portfolio Health Monitor to quickly assess the overall status of your portfolio

Questions and Feedback

If you have questions or feedback on this beta feature, please leave a comment on our Product Roadmap.

You can also schedule an appointment with Raoul Bach (Product Owner for this feature) to discuss your requirements and use cases directly.

Click here to schedule an appointment.