Empirical investigation of the usefulness of Gateway constructs in process models

Abstract

Process modeling grammars are used to create scripts of a business domain that a process-aware information system is intended to support. A key grammatical construct of such grammars is known as a Gateway. A Gateway construct is used to describe scenarios in which the workflow of a process diverges or converges according to relevant conditions. Gateway constructs have been subjected to much academic discussion about their meaning, role and usefulness, and have been linked to both process-modeling errors and process-model understandability. This paper examines perceptual discriminability effects of Gateway constructs on an individual's abilities to interpret process models. We compare two ways of expressing two convergence and divergence patterns – Parallel Split and Simple Merge – implemented in a process modeling grammar. On the basis of an experiment with 98 students, we provide empirical evidence that Gateway constructs aid the interpretation of process models due to a perceptual discriminability effect, especially when models are complex. We discuss the emerging implications for research and practice, in terms of revisions to grammar specifications, guideline development and design choices in process modeling.

Keywords:

• process modeling
• visual expressiveness
• process model comprehension
• Gateway constructs

Acknowledgements

This research has been supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC DE120100776) and by a Fellowship from the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jan Recker

About the authors

Jan Recker is Full Professor and Woolworths Chair of Retail Innovation at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Recker's research interests focus on the use of process design in organizational practice, business transformations and organizational innovation. He has authored and edited several books, and co-authored over 100 academic papers in journals and conferences. His research has appeared, among others, in the MIS Quarterly, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, Information & Management, Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems and others. He is Associate Editor for Communications of the AIS, and a Senior Editor for the Journal of IT Theory and Application. He holds a Ph.D. in Information Systems from Queensland University of Technology and an MS in Information Systems from the University of Muenster, Germany.