Workflow visualization’s influence on process mining analysis is a common point of discussion among its practitioners.
The initial display of the workflow on our tool screens often elicits a sense of wonder from viewers.
However, over time, this allure tends to fade, replaced by a feeling of disorientation – the question, “where should I look next?” arises.
Our so-called “spaghetti” – the complex web that emerges when visualizing the entire process with all its variations – can be so bewildering that it becomes unmanageable not only for the analyst but also for the end users involved in executing the process.
This confusion often leads to the argument that workflow visualization is of marginal significance, serving merely to “sell the idea” (whether that’s the initiation of process mining or rallying support for the analysis after the project’s launch).
What truly matters, some say, is the final scorecard presented with the results.
Recently, a paper studying the impact of visualization was published. Its conclusions can be distilled down to the following points:
- Workflow visualization could potentially help in assessing and determining necessary changes.
- It could assist analysts in comprehending the current issue and its impact on the process.
- It could facilitate communication of results to stakeholders. By offering clear and succinct data representations, visualizations might enable analysts to make informed decisions about the changes to implement.
The operative word here is “could.”
Ultimately, the usefulness of visualization is a case of “it depends.”
We at Inverbis will never forget a final client presentation where our engineers were unable to find anything significant (you can imagine the cold sweat), and the moment we displayed the first screen, without any explanation from us, the client asked, “why is that happening?”
The process owner quickly identified a situation that he believed should not occur (ah, the realities of life). This was triggered by seeing the graph diverge towards an entirely undesirable path.
However, it isn’t always this straightforward. Each case, each process is unique, and the effectiveness of visualization in extracting relevant information will vary.
There’s no doubt that, at the end of the day, end users need a dashboard that primarily explains what’s happening. But our clients also ask us to visually illustrate the affected variant.
There’s much to be done in the field of visualization in process mining, not least because there’s a general lack of understanding of what a process is and, importantly, limited time to reflect on it.
We’re eager to hear from you: what problems do you hope workflow visualization will solve for you to find it useful?
You can book a meeting with us.
Check some of our videos:
- New ➽ ICU discharges: where time slips away
- Fast Track vs Standard Path: Which is Better for Diagnosing Colorectal Cancer
- What causes discards in parenteral nutrition preparation? Key factors revealed!
- How Process Mining Uncovers Medication Administration Issues
The Prompter.io is our open project to share our experience—and that of others—in integrating language models and data-to-text techniques into process intelligence. Don’t miss it!
