Approximating process knowledge and process thinking: Acquiring workflow data by domain experts

This paper outlines a new approach for gathering workflow data via an interactive interview system. By this approach, knowledge elicitation for a subsequent workflow analysis is conducted by domain experts. Beside other problems concerning data acquisition this should solve the dilemma of a lacking joint knowledge basis between domain expert and analyst in terms of process thinking and process knowledge. The analysis of workflows is mostly conducted by extern analysts, who do not have any experience or specific knowledge about workflow details. Their expertise is limited to their knowledge about model notations and their analyses. In contrast, domain experts normally do not know much about process model notations. This circumstance can be designated as “dilemma between analyst and expert”. The dilemma should be solved through the interview system. After integrating the approach in a broader context, a method for process decomposition is presented. Theoretical considerations concerning knowledge externalization are discussed and the principles of the dynamical interview procedure are highlighted. Finally, the paper discusses first results of an expert evaluation.