business activity modeling

04/09/23

Business Activity Modeling

Nick Lambrou

University of Westminster

04/09/23


The technique provides a pictorial representation of the business which helps tease out the requirements, focus on the areas of concern, put the system into perspective, inform the clients of what is possible and what is in the realm of ‘science fiction’, while never alienating them in any way.

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When used properly, Business Activity Modelling can increase user participation and encourage users to build a sense of ownership for the future system.

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Business Events

Business Tasks

Activities

Tasks

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Business Activity Modeling Business Events

Business Events Trigger the Activities of one Business Task

Activity A

Activity B

Activity D

Activity C

Business task

Businessevent

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Business Activity Modeling Activities

An Activity is a self contained action that usually is achieved in one sitting

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Business Activity Modeling Tasks

An Activity can be broken-up into tasks. The tasks involved in completing an activity may vary according to different conditions. When an activity is complicated, we may analyse the activity by breaking it into tasks and then reconstructing these tasks.

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Business Activity Modeling Notation

A business activity

TakeCustomer

Appointment

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Business Activity Modeling Notation

The phrase describing the activity should contain a verb which shows what happens from the business point of view. Thus ‘Customer Appointment’ won’t do since it is verbless. Similarly, ‘Ask For Appointment’ won’t do either since it depicts the customer’s point of view.

TakeCustomer

Appointment

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Business Activity Modeling Salon Example

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In typical pictorial fashion we can display all the business activities on a page large enough. We can then link those activities with arrows indicating associations which show, in some loose form, which activities have to precede which.

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For example, the following activities regarding a single appointment are evident in our Salon: a receptionist takes the appointment and if the customer is new a customer record is set-up; close to the day of the appointment the receptionist makes sure a stylist is allocated to the appointment; on the day of the appointment a stylist attends to the customer where, as part of the job, alternative treatments may be suggested.

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TakeCustomer

Appointment

Appointment’sArrange

Stylist

Attend ToAppointment

RecommendAlternativeTreatments

Set UpCustomerFile

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Business Activity Modeling Setting the Boundary

TakeCustomer

Appointment

Appointment’sArrange

Stylist



Set UpCustomerFile

inside

outside

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SuggestProductTo Buy

OrderStock

KeepSupplierLists

AcceptDeliveryOf Stock

NegotiateWith Sales

People

ReconcileDelivery

With Order

File Invoice

Pay Invoice

Take StockInto Shop

Place StockIn Stock

RoomCheck StockAvailability

Prior ToAppointment

Arrange NewTreatments

PubliciseAvailableTreatments

Record New

Treatments

TakeCustomer

Appointment

ArrangeAppointment’s

Stylist

DefineSpecialOffers



ConcludeAppointment

Sweep Floor

Make Coffee

Use PettyCash

CleanCombs &Towels

Pay MagazineSubscriptions

AcceptCustomerPayment

Add UpDaily

Takings DistributeTip

Employ Staff

PaySalary

ProduceTraineeRecord

SendTraineeRecord

Set UpCustomer

File

UpdateCustomer

File

ReconcileInvoice With

Delivery

Keep Accounts

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SuggestProductTo Buy

OrderStock

KeepSupplierLists

AcceptDeliveryOf Stock

NegotiateWith SalesPeople

ReconcileDeliveryWith Order

ReconcileInvoice WithDelivery

File Invoice

Pay Invoice

Take StockInto Shop

Place StockIn StockRoom

Check StockAvailability

Prior ToAppointment

Arrange NewTreatments

PubliciseAvailableTreatments

Record New

Treatments

TakeCustomer

Appointment

ArrangeAppointment’s

Stylist

DefineSpecialOffers



ConcludeAppointment

Sweep Floor

Make Coffee

Use PettyCash

CleanCombs &Towels

Pay MagazineSubscriptions

AcceptCustomerPayment

Add UpDailyTakings Distribute

Tip

Employ Staff

PaySalary

ProduceTraineeRecord

SendTraineeRecord

Set UpCustomerFile

UpdateCustomerFile

Keep Accounts

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Work Practice Modeling

While the BAM defines the business activities in terms of what, when, how and why, the WPM specifies who will carry out each activity and where

The products of Work Practice Modelling include the User Catalogue, Task Models, Task Scenarios, and User Roles

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Work Practice ModelingThe receptionist

User Activity Decision RemarkR 1 Take Customer

AppointmentDS Automatic checking of staff and stock

availability is achievable. Receptionist willstill ‘talk’ to customer and ‘suggest’ ideas

R 2 ArrangeAppointment’sStylist

DS Receptionist still uses judgement, butsystem helps avoid double bookings

R 4 ConcludeAppointment

DS Just key-in what the stylist says was doneand up pops a bill

R 5 Accept CustomerPayment

DS Record payment as usual

R 8 Set-up CustomerFile

DS Straightforward utilisation of computerfacility

R 9 Update CustomerFile

D Automatically as appointment is concluded.Will avoid some of the duplication currentlytaking place.

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Work Practice ModelingThe stylist

S 1 RecommendAlternativeTreatments

- The discussion of what to do to someone’s head ismost important for a hairdressing salon and cannotin any way be replaced by a conventional database

S 2 Attend ToAppointment

- Only the stylist, with the trainee can do this.Otherwise we might as well have robots

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Work Practice Modelling entails the allocation of responsibilities to humans. To do so successfully, experience is needed plus the full backing of the affected organisation.

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Hierarchical Task Modeling

A task model describes the human activities that take place as a response to a business event. The BAM, which is after all just a network of activities, provides the starting point of activity identification. Each activity may then be broken down into smaller tasks which have to be performed to complete the activity. These tasks can be arranged in a hierarchy using a Hierarchical Task Model (HTM).

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plan (10) : 18 or 14,18

ArrangeAppointment

10

Set UpCustomerRecord

14

Take DownAppointmentDetails

18

plan (18) : 186,189 or 183,186,189 or 183

ListAvailable

Slots

183

RecordAppointment

186

InformStylist

189

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Hierarchical Task ModelingTask Scenarios

One way of understanding and controlling the tasks involved in the successful completion of an activity is to provide concrete examples of real life situations which describe from beginning to end the actions needed to complete the activity.

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Each business activity is influenced by certain happenings and conditions to which users of the system have to react in order to complete the activity. Each set of such conditions represents a task scenario for the activity. For example, each different plan of the HTM represents a Task Scenario

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Task Scenarios are very helpful in validating Task Models. Usually, the task scenarios precede and drive the creation of the Task Model, but, as with all other diagrammatic tools of system analysis, the tables are soon turned and the Task Model generates ideas for Task Scenarios which can be validated with the users

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Hierarchical Task Modelling originated in the 50’s when sociologists were trying to dissect peoples’ jobs in order to analyse them fully. The dissection of jobs into separate tasks led to a better understanding of these jobs and provided, almost as a side-product, tighter job descriptions and clearer training manuals. Their use in a computing environment will hopefully lead to similar benefits.

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The System Development TemplateD

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The System Development TemplateD

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Conceptual Model

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External Design

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The Place of Business Activity ModelingD

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Conceptual Model

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BAM

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WPM