Task-Driven User Interfaces

Worklist Applications

The idea behind a task-based, or inductive, user interface is that it’s important to figure out two things:

• How users want to use the software?
• How the software can guide users through processes?

The task-driven user interface is the cornerstone of Command Query Responsibility Segregation (CQRS), the ultimate pattern for creating high-performance, scalable business software. As more and more organizations have become process driven and used workflow engines and Business Process Management (BPM) software to automate their processes, worklist applications, like that shown in Figure 2, have emerged. A typical worklist application lets users view a list of tasks, navigate to task details, then complete the task.

There are still some gaps between what the market offers and what users really need. For example, some vendors’ software lacks internationalization; in other software, basic task-management features such as task filtering and prioritization need improvement. If a task is not fully supported, its process flow must be redesigned to support alternative scenarios.

Now, let’s forget about Business Process Management, BPM software, and other technology-related jargon and, instead, focus on how people work. We must consider

• typical tasks that a task pool comprises—what workers needs to get done
• tasks assigned to workers—typically, tasks are assigned to workers according to priorities

It may be necessary to assign tasks directly to a particular person or to a group, creating a task pool from which workers can select tasks. For example, a company with a team that performs loan-history verifications for clients might assign tasks to people directly or to a group’s task pool—in either case, based on the geographic regions that they cover.

The three key things that any worker needs to perform a task are as follows:

1. Context—What data does a worker need to gather before completing a task? What additional information would be useful in decision making?
2. Instructions—How should the worker perform the task? What set of detailed instructions would a worker need to conduct a particular activity correctly.
3. Data—What data should be the output of a task and get passed along at the completion of the task? How should a worker report the results of a task?
   
   Figure 3 shows a typical task flow.

A task definition that adequately represents a task provides answers to the following questions:

• Who can do the task?—Include staff roles and verbs indicating the task.
• What needs to get done?—Indicate the name of the task.
• How will the task get done?—List the data inputs and outputs.
• Who are the stakeholders?—List the stakeholders.
• When must the worker complete the task?—Indicate the date on which it is necessary to finish the task.

For operations, a task becomes a work item that someone needs to get done, at some time, at some location. There are some typical patterns that occur during operations:

• escalation—An action that must be executed if a worker were not able to perform a task for any reason, could not complete it on time, or its outputs did not satisfy exit criteria. Escalation usually leads to a supervisor’s reassigning the task, initiating another task, or canceling the task.
• cancellation—If a task gets canceled, it may become necessary to revert all changes or take additional corrective actions. For example, if a meeting gets canceled, the calendar system may need to notify all participants about the cancellation, plus cancel the reservation of any room or other resources that are no longer needed.
• sequential flow—The outputs from one task are the inputs for another task. As soon as one task gets completed, the next task starts.
• parallel flow synchronization—Several tasks must be completed before the next action takes place.
• task pool—A task is not assigned to a specific person, but to a group’s shared backlog. Each person who works from a specific task pool can choose a task from that shared pool and mark it as assigned, indicating that they are taking responsibility for the task.
• task assignment—The method for assigning tasks to workers may be
  
  • static—A specific person performs a task.
  • dynamic—The worker to whom to assign a task is not known in advance.
  • rule-based—For example, depending on the total amount of an invoice, there may be different approvers.
• reminders—A task reminder may be sent out several times—for example, based on how much time has passed since the task was assigned or how much time remains before the task expires.

Conclusions

Modern applications typically have task-based user interfaces. A properly designed, task-driven user interface guides a user through a process, resulting in a much better user experience. Plus, it offers context-sensitive guidance or interactive user assistance that helps a user to take the right actions. Thus, the application’s user experience becomes an integral part of the process. By focusing on user intentions and actions instead of data objects, we can take a giant step toward creating software user experiences that make users more efficient, more effective, and more productive.