Does Experience Matter?

2017-08-01

Factors Affecting the Understandability of the Business Process Modelling Notation

Business process modelling is a necessary and initial part of Business Process Management (BPM) and the key element in a process-driven development of organisations. Documentation and standardization of processes in the form of graphical models require the involvement of employees from different departments and management levels, with different competencies, as well as external consultants. It is therefore important that all of them use the same and understandable modelling notation which is also referred toas Business Process Modelling Technique (BPMT).

Based on results from empirical research we may conclude that experienced users as well as inexperienced perceive an intuitive BPMS notation as the easiest to understand (Adonis software, BOC). This notation has the highest understandability indicator among EXP and INEXP respondents. BPM practitioners perceive also BPMN as easy-comprehensible notation. EPC (Aris software) has the lowest understandability indicator although the majority of respondents have gained experience in modelling in this notation (41%). Such a result may indicate a low quality of BPM projects in which experienced respondents participated. Furthermore, the shape of the graphic symbols the most strongly determines the choice of the easiest-to-understand notation in two analysed groups. The experienced respondents perceive their competence at a moderate level, but they are not sufficient to fully understand the process description in the examined modelling techniques.

Gabryelczyk, R., Jurczuk, A. (2017). Does Experience Matter? Factors Affecting the Understandability of the Business Process Modelling Notation, Procedia Engineering, Volume 182, pp. 198-205. doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.03.164

Keywords: business process modelling; modelling notations; understandability; BPMS; BPMN; EPC