Scenarios
A scenario in Runway facilitates a more organized and efficient workflow to address "what-if" questions. It also promotes safer collaboration, allowing members from finance and other teams to experiment without affecting the main model.
A scenario is like a parallel universe for your model, providing a space for testing new ideas or envisioning different future outcomes without impacting the main model.
It enables team members to independently propose changes. Once satisfied with the modifications in a scenario, they can be merged into the main model. This ensures that the main model is only updated with thoroughly vetted changes.
In summary, a scenario in Runway facilitates a more organized and efficient workflow to address "what-if" questions. It also promotes safer collaboration, allowing members from finance and other teams to experiment without impacting the main model.
What is a “draft”?
The Main Scenario serves as the definitive reference for your model. To prevent unintentional modifications, Runway automatically switches you to a Main Scenario (Draft) whenever you make a data edit. The yellow frame around the app and the (Draft) suffix in the scenario name denote that you’ve been pushed to a draft scenario.
After making data edits you will have several options depending on your permission level:
- "Discard draft" to return to the original Main Scenario
- "Save as scenario" to create a separate scenario for the edits,
- or "Review and merge" to incorporate the edits into the Main Scenario.
If your role is Admin, you'll find a "Review and merge" button in the top right corner.
Non-admins will only see a "Save as scenario" button to prevent un-vetted changes from being merged to Main Scenario.
How to create a scenario?
The first option is by saving a draft as a new scenario. Alternatively, you can also click on + Add in the scenarios list.
Which edits are scoped to a scenario?
Edits scoped to a scenario remain local to that specific scenario and do not affect your Main Scenario or other scenarios until merged. These edits will automatically push you to a draft.
Currently, the following edits fall into this category:
- For drivers:
- Creating and deleting drivers
- Modifying the forecast, actual, or rollup formula
- Modifying/setting an actual or forecast value
- Moving a driver to a new model or driver group
- Modifying formatting: name, color, precision, type
- Marking or unmarking as KPI
- For models:
- Creating and deleting models
- For databases:
- Creating and deleting databases
- Creating and deleting object (database row)
- Modifying the value of a database attribute for a specific object
- Modifying formulas
- Modifying database schemas
How to compare scenarios?
Option #1 | Table or chart comparison in a page
Begin by creating a "Driver table" on the page. Choose the drivers you want to compare across different scenarios. Next, click on "Customize" located at the top right of the table. Choose "Forecast Comparison" and select the scenarios you wish to compare. By default, you will only see the values from each scenario. You can also add the "Variance" and "Variance %" options.
Similarly, you can also compare drivers in different scenarios using line charts.
Option #2 | Inline comparison in a model
If you want to see a comparison inline for every line within a particular model, click on "Customize" in the top right. Choose "Forecast Comparison" and select the scenarios you wish to compare. By default, you will only see the values from each scenario. You can also add the "Variance" and "Variance %" options.
Option #3 | Compare within the review & merge flow
When Admins click Review and Merge, you will be prompted to view comparison of scenarios within the approval menu. You can find a more detailed explanation of this option here.
How to review and merge a scenario?
🔒 Note: Only users with the Admin role have permission to merge scenarios.
- First, make sure to switch to the scenario you'd like to merge.
- Click on “...” next to the scenario picker.
- Then, select "Review and Merge." This action will open a review screen showing the impact of the scenario changes on your KPIs and provide a detailed view of all changes. You can select KPIs by starring drivers within your model.
- When you're ready, click on "Merge Changes" in the top right.
What is the impact of merging edits to Main on my scenario?
Under the hood, custom scenarios work by first computing and rendering everything as in the Main Scenario, then layering on top the edits scoped to the new scenario.
For example, consider Bob and Alice both modifying the same driver:
- Bob creates a scenario where he modifies Driver A.
- Simultaneously, Alice creates her own scenario where she also modifies Driver A.
- At this point, both Bob and Alice see their own versions of Driver A in their scenarios.
- If Bob merges his changes into the Main Scenario, Alice will still see her own version of Driver A in her scenario. This is because Runway renders the Main Scenario first and layers the custom scenarios' edits on top.
- Now, when Alice merges her scenario into the Main Scenario, Driver A in the Main Scenario will be updated to reflect Alice's version.
Now, consider another example:
- Bob creates a scenario where he modifies Driver B.
- Alice creates a scenario where she modifies Driver A.
- In Alice's scenario, she sees Driver B exactly as it is in the Main Scenario because she hasn't modified it.
- If Bob merges his changes into the Main Scenario, Alice still sees Driver A as she defined in her scenario. She will also see the updated Driver B, based on Bob's merge action, because she hasn't modified Driver B.
How to delete or rename a scenario?
First, navigate to the scenario that you want to rename. Double-click on the scenario name to change it. Alternatively, click on ... next to the scenario picker and select "Rename" or “Delete”.
Who has access and visibility to scenarios?
- A draft is only visible to its creator.
- Admins have access to all scenarios, regardless of their published status.
- Managers and Members can only access scenarios that have been published.
- Guests are limited to viewing the Main Scenario and any scenarios that have been explicitly shared with them.
To publish a scenario, begin by navigating to it. Next, click on ... and toggle the "Publish scenario" option on. With the toggle on, Managers and Members will be able to access your published scenarios.
Sharing a scenario with Guests is done at the model or page level, not across the entire organization. Guests won't have visibility to a model or a page unless at least one scenario is enabled for them. To share a specific scenario, first navigate to the relevant model or page. Then, click on "Share". Proceed to “Guest settings” to enable or disable the necessary scenarios.
Last updated on March 4, 2024