Influence factors for local comprehensibility of process models

The main aim of this study is to investigate human understanding of process models and to develop an improved understanding of its relevant influence factors. Aided by assumptions from cognitive psychology, this article attempts to address specific deductive reasoning difficulties based on process models. The authors developed a research model to capture the influence of two effects on the cognitive difficulty of reasoning tasks: (i) the presence of different control-flow patterns (such as conditional or parallel execution) in a process model and (ii) the interactivity of model elements. Based on solutions to 61 different reasoning tasks by 155 modelers, the results from this study indicate that the presence of certain control-flow patterns influences the cognitive difficulty of reasoning tasks. In particular, sequence is relatively easy, while loops in a model proved difficult. Modelers with higher process modeling knowledge performed better and rated subjective difficulty of loops lower than modelers with lower process modeling knowledge. The findings additionally support the prediction that interactivity between model elements is positively related to the cognitive difficulty of reasoning. Our research contributes to both academic literature on the comprehension of process models and practitioner literature focusing on cognitive difficulties when using process models

Specification Patterns for Time-Related Properties

We present a pattern system for property specification. It extends the existing patterns identified in [4] which allow to reason about occurrence and order of events, but not about time conditions. Introducing time-related patterns allows the specification of real-time requirements. The paper is limited to 3 pages. Therefore it contains only basic ideas. The details can be found in [9]

Visualization of Business Process Modeling Anti Patterns

Patterns are used to capture and document frequent design activities. Patterns are means to compare the expressiveness of different modeling languages. On the other hand, the term $anti-pattern$ points to undesirable design activities. In the field of business process modeling, useful patterns were collected to help evaluate models and tools. Nevertheless, there was almost no work to capture the unwanted design patterns. The most common way to model business processes is to use a graphical modeling language. The most widespread notation are business process diagrams modeled in the language BPMN. In this paper, we formalize structural patterns that can lead to control flow errors in such graphical models. For expressing such error patterns, we use the visual query language BPMN-Q . By using a query processor, a business process modeler is able to identify possible errors in business process diagrams. Moreover, the erroneous parts of the business process diagram can be highlighted when an instance of an error pattern is found. This way, the modeler gets an easy-to-understand feedback in the visual modeling language he or she is familiar with

Musterbasierte Überprüfung der Qualitätseigenschaften von Geschäftsprozessmodellen

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BUSINESS PROCESS MODEL ANTI-PATTERNS: A BIBLIOGRAPHY AND TAXONOMY OF PUBLISHED WORK

Patterns have been proven to be useful for documenting reusable solutions to common problems. A recently published bibliography of business process model patterns shed light into the various types of patterns by providing a systematic categorization of these patterns. In this way, such classification improves the understanding of business process model patterns. Anti-patterns document a counterproductive solution to a commonly occurring problem. While a classification for the large body of literature on business process model patterns is available, a structured bibliography of anti-patterns is missing. Related work on anti-patterns discusses patterns for common modeling errors, problems in business process models as well as in the business processes. Modeling experts should be aware of all these types of anti-patterns. To fill this gap, this paper presents a bibliography of business process model anti-patterns and a taxonomy of anti-patterns that has been developed using an established approach for taxonomy development. Both are based on an literature review and are valuable for people during the design and analysis phases of business processes since knowledge about anti-patterns in business process models helps for increasing their quality. Our overview should also be useful for developers of modeling tools who wish to make the modeler aware of potential modeling problems

Switch or Struggle: Risk Assessment for Late Integration of COTS Components

The domain requirements of software projects often seem so specialized to developers that their original design does not incorporate any commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components. However, if major implementation problems are encountered at a later stage in the project, the integration of a COTS component that promises to solve those problems may become a desirable alternative to struggling on with the original implementation. While a number of methods and criteria have already been proposed for requirements engineering, risk assessment and candidate selection of COTS components, they were developed for application in the initial phases of a project and thus do not take into account the much tighter time and design constraints imposedin a later project stage. To spark discussion on necessary adaptations of the established methods, this position paper uses the example of a concrete project to illustrate the characteristics of “switch or struggle” situations and proposes an initial set of risk factors to be considered at that time

Business Process Modelling with Continuous Validation

In this paper, we demonstrate the prototype of a modelling tool that applies graph-based rules for identifying problems in business process models. The advantages of our approach are twofold. Firstly, it is not necessary to compute the complete state space of the model in order to find errors. Secondly, our technique can even be applied to incomplete business process models. Thus, the modeller can be supported by direct feedback during the model construction. This feedback does not only report problems, but it also identifies their reasons and makes suggestions for improvements

Komplexitätsmetriken für Geschäftsprozessmodelle

Häufig werden grafische Modelle zum Software-Entwurf verwendet. In späten Phasen der Softwareerstellung sind solche Modelle oft schon recht 'codenahe'. Gerade in den früheren Phasen gibt es aber häufig Modelle, deren Hauptzweck darin besteht, die Kommunikation zwischen Auftraggebern und Entwicklern zu unterstützen. Um diese Kommunikation zu erleichtern, sollten die Modelle möglichst leicht verständlich sein. Hierfür ist zunächst zu klären, was man unter „leicht verständlich“ versteht. Unser Beitrag untersucht, inwiefern sich Ideen bekannter Software-Komplexitätsmetriken auf grafische Geschäftsprozessmodelle übertragen lassen

Using Timed Model Checking for Verifying Workflows

The correctness of a workflow specification is critical for the automation of business processes. For this reason, errors in the specification should be detected and corrected as early as possible - at specification time. In this paper, we present a validation method for workflow specifications using model-checking techniques. A formalized workflow specification, its properties and the correctness requirements are translated into a timed state machine that can be analyzed with the Uppaal model checker. The main contribution of this paper is the use of timed model checking for verifying time-related properties of workflow specifications. Using only one tool (the model checker) for verifying these different kinds of properties gives an advantage over using different specialized algorithms for verifying different kinds of properties