Comparing the Control-Flow of EPC and Petri Net from the End-User Perspective

Transcription

1 Comparing the Control-Flow of EPC and Petri Net from the End-User Perspective Kamyar Sarshar, Peter Loos Institut for Information Systems (IWi) at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) Saarbrücken Germany Nancy, September

2 Outline Motivation Research Question Research Approach Empirical Findings Limitations Next Steps

3 Motivation Business Process Management Lifecycle Reality Business process models Analysis structural + performance analysis simulation of workflow types Evaluation ex-post analysis of workflow instances Execution enactment & monitoring of workflow instances

4 Motivation End-users are involved in business process modeling Capture relevant aspects of current reality Reality Business process models Adapt to process changes Evaluate the content of redesigned models Analysis structural + performance analysis simulation of workflow types Evaluation ex-post analysis of workflow instances Execution enactment & monitoring of workflow instances Perform manual tasks

5 Motivation Connector-based representation of control-flow Event-driven Process Chain (EPC) Split Join

6 Motivation Token-game-based representation of control-flow Condition/Event net (C/E net) Split Join

7 Motivation C o n n e c t o r T o k e n g a m e Strengths Intuitive representation of the control-flow Less complex process models Limited number of language primitives Need to comprehend only the token-game to understand the control-flow Weaknesses High number of language primitives Need to distinguish between a number of primitives to understand the control-flow Abstract representation of the control-flow More complex process models

8 Research Question Underlying Assumptions End-user are involved in business process modeling Connectors & token-game are two different approaches of representing the control-flow of a business process Research Question Is there a difference between connector-based and token-game-based approach to the control-flow of a business process regarding end-user comprehension? Which of these two approaches is preferred by end-users? Relevance Can guide the selection of existing process modelling notations Can guide the development of new process modelling notations Can guide the development of business process modeling tools

9 Research Approach Research Method Selection Non-empirical methods Feature Comparison Metamodeling Metric Approach Ontological Evaluation Approaches Based on Cognitive Psychology Empirical methods Survey Laboratory Experiment Field Experiment Case Study Action Research Source: Keng Siau, Matti Rossi: Ev aluation of Inf ormation Modeling Methods - A Rev iew. HICSS (5) 1998:

10 Research Approach How research questions have been operationalised Model comprehension Comprehension task: number of correct answers to process-based multiple-choice questions Subjective preference Post-task survey: answer to preference-based multiple-choice questions

11 Research Approach What we intend to compare Connector (EPC) Token-game (C/E net) Connector (EPC) Connector (EPC) OR OR Comprehension Comprehension

12 Hypothesis Research Question 1 Hypothesis H1 H2 H3 EPC control-flow is better comprehended by end-user than C/E net representations with respect to -type situation (H1a) and -type situation (H1b) The EPC multi-level /-connectors are comprehended by end-users as good as -connectors and -connectors The EPC OR-connectors are comprehended by end-users as good as connectors and -connectors H4 H5 The overall end-user comprehension of the control-flow of an EPC model is higher than an equivalent C/E net model The perceived ease-of-use of the EPC control-flow is higher than C/E net 2 H6 H7 The perceived ease-of-use of the EPC notation is higher than C/E-net The intention of end-user to use the EPC is higher than C/E-net

13 Research Design INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: Process modeling notation 1. EPC 2. C/E net Two experimental groups corresponding with the independent variables Each group 15 min. trained Experimental Groups (2 x 25) Experimental Treatment CONTROLLED VARIABLE: 1. User experience 2. Task complexity 3. Training 1. Comprehension task 2. Post-task survery Experimental Task Materials 1. Experimental model 2. Summery of elements 3. Questionair 4. Tokens (C/E net group only) DEPENDENT VARIABLE: Model comprehension Subjective preference Adapted f rom: Moody, D.L.: Comparative Evaluation of Large Data Model Representation Methods: The Analyst.s Perspective. In: Proc. Conceptual Modeling - ER 2002, 21st International Conference on Conceptual Modeling. Tampere, Finland. LNCS 2503 Springer-Verlag (2002)

14 Summery of Empirical Findings Research Question Hypoth. H1a Hypothesis supported No -type situation where equally well comprehended in both groups H1b Yes -type situation where significantly better comprehended within the EPC group 1 H2 Yes EPC multi-level /-connectors where as good comprehended by end-users as -connectors and connectors H3 No The OR-connectors where significantly less comprehended than -connectors and -connectors H4 Yes The overall comprehension of the control-flow of the EPC group was significantly better than the C/E net group H5 - No definitive result 2 H6 Yes There is a strong tendency that the perceived ease-of-use of the EPC notation is higher than C/E net H7 Yes There is a strong tendency that the intention of end-user to use the EPC is higher then C/E net

15 Interpretation Research Question 1. Is there a difference between connector-based and token-game-based approach to the control-flow of a business process regarding end-user comprehension? H1-H4: There is a tendency in favour of better comprehension of connectors and the OR-connector is significantly less comprehended then other connectors 2. Which of these two approaches is subjectively preferred by end-users? H5-H7: There is a strong tendency in favour of connectors

16 Limitations Limited number of participants Students as participants The complexity of the business processes Training only 15 min. Not identical business processes Biased view of the researcher

17 Next steps Already conducted Adjustments to the research design Minor adjustments to the research design Have repeated the experiment with 300 students Increase gradually the training-time Use professionals instead of students

18 Thank you for your attention