Process-pattern.app - A collection of business process redesign patterns

Abstract

This paper introduces process-pattern.app, a website consolidating Business Process Redesign (BPR) patterns from the literature and the field. The site seeks to enhance the usability of BPR patterns by providing features such as case studies, cheat sheets, and suggestions for pairing individual patterns. Process-pattern.app seeks to inspire creative thinking in process improvement and bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practice application. This work contributes to the BPM field by fostering a shared learning environment.

Keywords

• eol>business process redesign
• pattern repository
• process improvement
• web resource

1. Introduction

conditions to be met for successful completion. If flexibility allows, conditions are checked in an order determined by the most favorable ratio of expected knock-out probability to the expected efort to check each condition (i.e., “If it must fail, let it fail early”). Knowledge of this pattern and implementing it appropriately can lead to cost savings, albeit with a slight increase in time – two performance dimensions frequently considered in BPR as part of the Devil’s Quadrangle [ 7, 8 ].

BPR patterns aren’t typically invented from scratch but instead discovered from the field, subsequently compiled for use [ 9 ]. There are numerous publications on BPR patterns, encompassing general business processes [ 10, 8 ] as well as specific domains such as customer-centricity [ 11 ] and sustainability [ 12 ].

Making these collections of patterns accessible to users is a crucial success factor for their adoption. Apart from research papers, websites have demonstrated their usefulness in communicating pattern-related knowledge in BPM: Bpmpatterns.org1 connects publications related to process model (anti-)patterns, classifies them, and arranges them in a taxonomy [ 13 ]. While the site is beneficial for gaining an overview of the literature, it does not delve into specific pattern details. Workflowpatterns.com 2 provides detailed descriptions of patterns for process design. However, it does not focus specifically on BPR. Aiming to address the arising gap and to render BPR patterns more practical for practitioners and researchers, this paper introduces process-pattern.app. This site compiles BPR patterns and enhances them with supplementary resources.

2. Innovations and Characteristics

Process-pattern.app is designed to facilitate identifying, comprehending, and applying BPR patterns. The site consolidates BPR patterns from various sources into a single location. The design objective is to present BPR patterns understandably and supplement them via content elements such as case studies, cheat sheets, pattern pairings, and original research papers [ 14, 15 ]. Patterns On an overview page, users can search for patterns by name or filter them via tags (see Figure 1). An individual BPR pattern is presented on a single page and can consist of (a) a graphic that symbolizes the pattern, (b) a short name that encapsulates the essence of the pattern, (c) a summary outlining the pattern’s key idea or guiding question for its use, (d) a reference to the original academic publication or report from where the pattern was collected, (e) a section clarifying the pattern’s workings and its application, (f) key takeaways, (g) details regarding its estimated influence on business process performance and a radar chart – a graphical representation depicting the multi-dimensional impact of the BPR pattern on performance dimensions (similar to the visualization of the Devil’s Quadrangle), (h) related patterns that have a conceptual or practical connection to the current pattern, and (i) real-world examples demonstrating the pattern’s application and efectiveness.

1http://bpmpatterns.org/ 2http://www.workflowpatterns.com/

Pairings The pairings section shows how diferent BPR patterns can be combined for process improvement. The idea is that combining individual patterns can ofer more significant improvements or more suitable applications.

Case studies The idea behind the case studies section is to provide real-world examples of how BPR patterns or pairings have been applied in practice. These case studies provide practical insights and demonstrate the patterns’ efectiveness in various contexts. Case study pages link back to their patterns.

Cheat sheets The cheat sheets section provides summaries of BPR patterns belonging to one topic (e.g., sustainability). The idea is to ofer a reference guide that users can refer to when they need a focused view on a topic in BPR.

Research The research section is a repository featuring all academic publications presenting the BPR patterns on the site or covering various process improvement topics.

3. Maturity

The site is accessible at https://process-pattern.app. A tutorial document3 and a introduction video4 demonstrate the site. The site is under ongoing development from a content and func

3Tutorial: https://dtdi.de/s/bpm23-tutorial 4Video screen cast: https://dtdi.de/s/bpm23-video

tional perspective. While the innovations and characteristics presented in this paper will remain integral to the site, other functionalities might be subject to change or improvement. An initial set of 33 patterns from academic resources (e.g., [ 8, 11, 12 ]) has been added to the site. As of today, the site features one exemplary pairing, three cheat sheets, and five case studies. The website is developed for compatibility with varying screen sizes, ofers an RSS feed for subscription to updates, and includes sharing cards for promoting content on social media platforms (see Figure 2). The site’s content administration is facilitated through a content management system. Contact information for suggesting content is provided on the site.

4. Discussion and further developments

The site process-pattern.app aims at capitalizing on the significant research endeavors in the realm of patterns for BPR. Process-pattern.app is designed primarily for practitioners, consultants, and researchers. Practitioners and consultants can use the site to identify process improvement opportunities, while researchers can use it to study the practical application of BPR patterns. It is designed to make knowledge accessible to a broad audience, responding to the BPM community’s call for tools that facilitate process improvement and bridge the gap between academic research and industry practice [ 3 ]. The site is envisioned as a continually evolving platform for process improvement knowledge. Future developments include adding additional content and integrating mechanisms for users to share case studies and evaluate the performance impact of patterns on a scale, enhancing the site’s practical value. Also, integrating process-pattern.app’s content in third-party tools, such as process modelers is an idea for further development. This integration might streamline the application of BPR patterns. With these continual enhancements, process-pattern.app aims complement existing ofers in the BPM community, fostering a community of shared learning and practice.

References

[1] M. Dumas , M. La Rosa , J. Mendling , H. A. Reijers , Fundamentals of Business Process Management , 2 ed ., Springer, 2018 . doi: 10 .1007/978-3- 662 -56509-4.

[2] G. Zellner , A structured evaluation of business process improvement approaches , BPMJ 17 ( 2011 ) 203 - 237 . doi: 10 .1108/14637151111122329.

[3] B. Zuhaira , N. Ahmad , Business process modeling, implementation, analysis, and management: the case of business process management tools , BPMJ 27 ( 2021 ) 145 - 183 . doi: 10 .1108/BPMJ-06-2018-0168.

[4] E. Gamma , R. Helm , R. Johnson , J. Vlissidies, Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software, 4 ed ., Addison-Wesley , 1995 .

[5] S. Limam Mansar , H. A. Reijers , Best practices in business process redesign: use and impact , BPMJ 13 ( 2007 ) 193 - 213 . doi: 10 .1108/14637150710740455.

[6] M. H. Jansen-Vullers , H. A. Reijers , Business Process Redesign in Healthcare: Towards a Structured Approach , INFOR 43 ( 2005 ) 321 - 339 .

[7] N. Brand , H. van der Kolk, Workflow Analysis and Design: (in Dutch) , Kluwer Bedrijfswetenschappen, Deventer, 1995 .

[8] H. A. Reijers , S. Limam Mansar , Best practices in business process redesign: an overview and qualitative evaluation of successful redesign heuristics , Omega 33 ( 2005 ) 283 - 306 . doi: 10 .1016/j.omega. 2004 . 04 .012.

[9] G. Zellner , Towards a framework for identifying business process redesign patterns , BPMJ 19 ( 2013 ) 600 - 623 . doi: 10 .1108/ BPMJ-Mar- 2012-0020.

[10] J. Recker , M. Rosemann , Being innovative without being creative , QUT Innovation Briefs, Information Systems School , Queensland University of Technology, Australia, 2014 . URL: https://eprints.qut.edu.au/75985/.

[11] L. Frank , R. Poll , M. Röglinger , R. Lea , Design heuristics for customer-centric business processes , BPMJ 26 ( 2020 ) 1283 - 1305 . doi: 10 .1108/BPMJ-06-2019-0257.

[12] A. Nowak , F. Leymann , D. Schleicher , D. Schumm , S. Wagner, Green business process patterns , in: Proceedings of the 18th Conference on Pattern Languages of Programs , PLoP '11 , ACM , New York, 2011 . doi: 10 .1145/2578903.2579144.

[13] M. Fellmann , A. Koschmider , R. Laue , A. Schoknecht , A. Vetter , Business process model patterns: state-of-the-art, research classification and taxonomy , BPMJ 25 ( 2019 ) 972 - 994 .

[14] R. E. Mayer , Using multimedia for e-learning , Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 33 ( 2017 ) 403 - 423 . doi: 10 .1111/jcal.12197.

[15] L. L. Jacoby , L. R. Brooks , Nonanalytic Cognition: Memory, Perception, and Concept Learning , in: G. H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation , volume 18 , Elsevier , 2000 , pp. 1 - 47 . doi: 10 .1016/S0079- 7421 ( 08 ) 60358 - 8 .