FlowiXML: a step towards designing workflow management systems

Abstract

This paper addresses the need for supporting the design of user interfaces for workflow management systems. Based on the already existing task and domain models, an approach is proposed to design a workflow model that explicitly articulates its new concepts with respect to the concepts belonging to the task and the domain, but with some extensions. The specifications of the workflow user interface are then stored in a model repository where all user interface aspects are expressed in a uniform XML-compliant user interface description language. From these specifications, the user interface of the workflow could be generated in HTML based on identified design patterns, along with the dialogue expressed in SCXML, a W3C standard for expressing state charts. This process is integrated in ATOMS, a content management software which integrates the generated interfaces with the final contents. In addition, the system automatically generates a personal 'to do' list and a workflow list to locate the progress of each workflow instance. A real-world case study is presented to exemplify this process.