Here to Help You Get the Most Out of OutcomeLens
Whether you're setting up your first assessment or fine-tuning a reporting dashboard, these guides walk you through it — step by step, no jargon required.
Building Questions
OutcomeLens gives you 11 different input types to choose from when building assessment questions. You don't need to use all of them — just pick the ones that make sense for what you're asking.
| Input Type | What It's For | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Short written answers | "What is your current employer?" |
| Text Area | Longer written responses | "Describe your current living situation." |
| Radio | Pick one option (shown as buttons) | "How often do you feel safe at home?" |
| Checkbox | Pick one or more from a list | "Which services are you currently receiving?" |
| Picklist | Pick one from a dropdown menu | "What is your primary language?" |
| Number | Whole numbers | "How many people live in your household?" |
| Decimal | Numbers with decimals | "What is your current GPA?" |
| Currency | Dollar amounts | "What is your monthly income?" |
| Date | Calendar dates | "When did you begin this program?" |
| Phone | Phone numbers | "What's the best number to reach you?" |
| File Upload | Document or image attachments | "Upload a copy of your lease agreement." |
How Scoring Works
Not every question needs to be scored — some are just collecting information. But when you do want scoring, OutcomeLens supports two approaches:
Score-Based (the most common approach)
You define what each answer is worth. For example, on a wellness check-in:
- "Always" = 3 points
- "Sometimes" = 2 points
- "Rarely" = 1 point
- "Never" = 0 points
These mappings are called Score Mappings, and you set them up in the Question Editor. OutcomeLens adds up the points automatically.
Value-Based (for questions where the answer is the score)
Sometimes the response itself is the number that matters — like a credit score or a blood pressure reading. In these cases, OutcomeLens uses the raw number directly instead of mapping it to points.
Scoring Categories
Questions can be grouped into Scoring Categories — think of these as the themes or domains you're measuring. For example, a holistic wellness assessment might have categories like "Housing Stability," "Mental Health," and "Financial Wellness."
Each category tracks its own score, so you can see at a glance which areas are improving and which might need more attention.
Classifications
Within each scoring category, you can define Classifications — labels and colors that give scores meaning at a glance.
You decide what the ranges and labels are. OutcomeLens calculates them automatically every time an assessment is submitted.
Polarity
Some scores are better when they're higher (like a wellness score), and some are better when they're lower (like a risk score). OutcomeLens calls this Polarity — you set it per category so that trend arrows, colors, and comparisons always point in the right direction.
OutcomeLens supports three ways to deliver assessments. You can mix and match depending on your situation.
Add individual question components to a custom Flow screen. Gives you full control over layout and which questions appear where.
- Custom intake workflows
- Mix questions with other Flow elements
- Maximum flexibility
Embed the complete assessment form inside a Flow screen. The form handles sections, navigation, and submission — all in one component.
- Staff-completed check-ins
- Structured assessments
- Quick to set up
Deliver a clean, branded form through an Experience Cloud site. Participants don't need a Salesforce license or account — just a link.
- Self-service assessments
- Client-facing intake forms
- Surveys sent via link or email
Templates
Regardless of which delivery method you use, assessments are built from Templates. A template defines which questions are included, the order they appear, how they're grouped into sections, and any conditional logic (like skipping a question based on a previous answer).
You build templates once, then reuse them as many times as you need. If you update a template, future assessments use the updated version — previous ones stay exactly as they were.
Assessment Summary
After an assessment is submitted, the Assessment Summary gives you a clear picture of the results — right on the Assessment record page in Salesforce. You'll see:
- Category scores with color-coded classifications (like "Stable" or "At Risk")
- Trend indicators showing whether scores went up or down since the last assessment
- Visual trend lines showing the trajectory over time
- Baseline comparison — how current scores compare to the very first assessment
- Individual responses with the detail behind each score
Everything is calculated automatically when the assessment is submitted. There's nothing extra to run or configure.
Program Dashboard
If you're tracking outcomes across a group of participants — a cohort, a program, a grant cycle — the Program Dashboard provides a higher-level view. It helps you answer questions like:
- How are participants doing overall across each scoring category?
- What percentage of participants improved, declined, or stayed stable?
- How does this cohort compare over time?
The dashboard pulls from the same assessment data — it just rolls it up so you can see patterns across many people at once.
Historical Tracking
A single assessment is just a snapshot. The real value comes from seeing change over time. Every time a new assessment is submitted for the same person and template, OutcomeLens automatically compares to the previous assessment and the first (baseline) assessment — then stores the difference so dashboards and summaries always show the most current picture without anyone having to run a report.
OutcomeLens uses Salesforce Permission Sets to control who can see and do what. Think of them as keys — you assign the right ones to the right people based on their role.
- Full access to all OutcomeLens objects
- Template and question configuration
- Scoring category and classification management
- Program dashboard and reporting
- Assessments and responses (create, read, edit)
- Assessment summary views
- Program dashboard (read-only)
How to Assign Permission Sets
- Go to Setup in Salesforce
- Search for Permission Sets in the Quick Find box
- Click on the permission set you want to assign
- Click Manage Assignments
- Click Add Assignments
- Select the users who need this access
- Click Assign — they'll have access the next time they load the page
OutcomeLens is built to meet Salesforce's AppExchange security standards. Every piece of data access goes through Salesforce's built-in security model — meaning the permissions you set are always respected. If someone doesn't have access to a field or record, OutcomeLens won't show it to them.
OutcomeLens uses Custom Metadata for configuration — think of these as settings that control how certain features behave, without needing to touch any code.
| Setting | What It Controls |
|---|---|
| Program Object | If you use a custom object to represent programs (e.g., a "Program" or "Grant" object), this tells OutcomeLens where to look for program data. |
| Enrollment Object | If you track enrollment in a custom object (linking participants to programs), enter its name here. |
| Enrollment Contact Field | The field on your enrollment object that points to the Contact record. |
| Enrollment Program Field | The field on your enrollment object that points to the program record. |
| Snapshot Frequency | How often OutcomeLens captures program-level snapshots for trend reporting (e.g., weekly, monthly). |
| Dropout Window | The number of days without activity before a participant is considered inactive for reporting purposes. |
If you're just setting up basic assessments, you may not need to change any of these. The defaults work for the most common setup. These settings become useful when you're ready to track program-level outcomes — like grant reporting or cohort analysis.
How to Edit These Settings
- Go to Setup in Salesforce
- Search for Custom Metadata Types in the Quick Find box
- Click OutcomeLens Settings
- Click Manage Records
- Click Edit next to the record you want to change
- Update the value and click Save
If you're not sure what to put in a field, don't worry — reach out and we're happy to help you get things configured.