A Technology for Pattern-Based Process Design and its Application to Collaboration Engineering - Collaborative Technologies and Applications for Interactive Information Design - page 8

Briggs, Appelman, & Vreede, 2004; Kolfschoten,
Briggs et al., 2006; Kolfschoten & Houten, 2007;
Kolfschoten & Hulst, 2006; Kolfschoten & San-
tanen, 2007; Vreede et al., 2006).
Second, to support the analysis of work prac-
tices, we asked facilitators about the information
required to design a collaboration process (Kolf-
schoten, Hengst et al., 2007). Third, to support
the selection and combination of thinkLets we
performed a pattern analysis to derive frequently
occurring thinkLet combinations, i.e. we identified
patterns in thinkLet sequences (Kolfschoten, Ap-
pelman et al., 2004) and we performed in-depth
interviews with facilitators to elicit the criteria
they use to choose among thinkLets (Kolfschoten,
Appelman et al., 2004; Kolfschoten & Rouwette,
2006a, 2006b). The insights on choice criteria
also helped us to develop a validation framework.
Finally, a facilitation process model was devel-
oped to visualize thinkLets-based collaboration
process designs (Vreede & Briggs, 2005), and a
first prototype of a design support tool was de-
veloped (Kolfschoten & Veen, 2005).

process specification, process documentation, pro-
cess implementation and project management.”
A CAPE tool supports the user in following the
process design approach and simplifies the choices
that need to be made during the design effort. It
does not render a process design or implementa-
tion based on a set of requirements.
When a pattern language is used, design pat-
terns are used as building blocks. This will change
the process design effort slightly from the steps
described above. While the original approach
assumes that alternative solutions have to be
created, evaluated, compared, and selected, using
design patterns, this changes into an approach
in which a design pattern is selected based on
known properties of this design pattern that fit
the requirements for the process. As these known
properties support the choice of design patterns,
they also prescribe the information required to
make this choice (Kolfschoten & Veen, 2005). It
can thus offer a checklist for analysis of the cur-
rent situation. Furthermore, design patterns are
descriptions of solutions but like object oriented
class descriptions, they need to be instantiated in
the specific context of the process design. Finally,
design patterns contain information about their
applicability and thus they contain information
that can be used to validate the process resulting
from the design effort. When the pattern library
does not offer a pattern that solves the specific
requirements of the process task, a new pattern
or a variation on an existing pattern should be
added.
Thus process design with the support of de-
sign patterns offers process engineers valuable
information to create and instantiate a process
design. A tool to support such efforts should offer
functionality to:

4. ComPuter Aided
ProCess design

To support design efforts in information systems,
the Software Engineering discipline has introduced
the use of CASE tools. A CASE tool is defined as
“a software tool that aids in software engineering
activities including, but not limited to require-
ments analysis and tracing, software design, code
production, testing, document generation, quality
assurance configuration management and project
management (IEEE Std 1348, 1995) .”
To support pattern-based process design, we
can use this definition to define a CAPE tool as “a
software tool that aids in process design activities
including but not limited to situation analysis,
process decomposition, process design, process
visualization, selection, storage and addition
of process design patterns, process validation,

• Store design patterns to avail them to the

community.
Add new • design patterns and to add varia-

tions to design patterns.
Enable a community of users to discuss the •