Designing Interactive Narratives to Represent and Communicate Business Process Models

Core Concepts

Interactive narratives can be used to present business process models in an engaging and accessible way for ordinary individuals, making the processes more understandable and collaborative.

Abstract

The content discusses the use of interactive narratives to present business process models, making them more accessible and collaborative for ordinary individuals.
The key highlights are:

Business process modeling is a fundamental step in business process management, but the graphic elements and symbols used in process modeling languages may not be easily understood by non-experts.
Interactive narratives offer a novel approach to presenting business process models, creating a hyper-textual environment that facilitates knowledge exchange and comprehension.
However, designing such narratives is complex, as business process modelers must accurately identify and translate the graphic elements of a process model into dynamic narrative elements.
The authors introduce the Scripting Your Process (SYP) method, which provides a systematic approach to designing interactive narratives based on business process models.
A quasi-experimental study demonstrates and evaluates the SYP method, showing that it successfully achieves its objective of contributing to the systematic design of interactive narratives derived from business process models.
The results indicate that individuals who are not experts in business process management can understand these processes in an engaging and gameful manner through the use of interactive narratives.

Stats

The business process model used in the study contained 26 flow elements (events, activities, and gateways).

Quotes

"Interactive narratives offer a novel approach to presenting business process models, making them more accessible and collaborative."
"Designing such narratives is complex, as business process modelers must accurately identify and translate the graphic elements of a process model into dynamic narrative elements."
"The results show that the SYP method successfully achieves its objective, contributing to the systematic design of interactive narratives derived from business process models."

Key Insights Distilled From

Web-based Interactive Narratives to Present Business Processes Models

by Márc... at arxiv.org 04-02-2024

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2404.00049.pdf

Deeper Inquiries

How can interactive narratives be further leveraged to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing around business processes beyond just improving understanding?

Interactive narratives can be further leveraged to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing around business processes by creating a more engaging and immersive experience for stakeholders. By incorporating interactive elements, such as decision points and branching storylines, participants can actively engage with the content, leading to a deeper understanding of the processes. Additionally, interactive narratives can provide a platform for real-time collaboration, allowing multiple stakeholders to contribute to the narrative and share their insights and perspectives. This collaborative approach can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the processes and foster a sense of ownership and engagement among participants. Furthermore, interactive narratives can be used as a training tool, allowing individuals to simulate the execution of processes and identify areas for improvement in a safe and controlled environment.

What potential challenges or limitations might arise when applying the SYP method to more complex or large-scale business process models?

When applying the SYP method to more complex or large-scale business process models, several challenges and limitations may arise. One challenge is the potential increase in the number of elements within the process model, leading to a higher volume of narrative sentences that need to be extracted and organized. This can make the process more time-consuming and labor-intensive for screenwriters. Additionally, complex process models may contain intricate decision points, loops, and dependencies that can be challenging to represent accurately in narrative form. Ensuring the coherence and accuracy of the interactive narrative while capturing all the essential elements of the process model can be a significant challenge. Moreover, as the complexity of the business process model increases, the risk of errors in the extraction and translation of elements into narrative sentences also rises, potentially leading to inaccuracies in the final interactive narrative.

How could the integration of interactive narratives with other business process modeling and analysis techniques, such as simulation or process mining, enhance the overall understanding and optimization of business processes?

The integration of interactive narratives with other business process modeling and analysis techniques, such as simulation or process mining, can enhance the overall understanding and optimization of business processes in several ways. By combining interactive narratives with simulation techniques, stakeholders can not only understand how processes work but also simulate different scenarios and evaluate the impact of potential changes in real-time. This interactive simulation can provide valuable insights into process performance and help identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement. Additionally, integrating interactive narratives with process mining techniques can enable stakeholders to analyze actual process data and compare it with the narrative representation. This integration can help validate the accuracy of the narrative, identify discrepancies between the modeled and actual processes, and uncover insights for process optimization and automation. Overall, the integration of interactive narratives with other modeling and analysis techniques can provide a holistic view of business processes, facilitate data-driven decision-making, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.