Design methodology

Objectives are a vital part of any project to implement or improve a business application or process. If you set measurable objectives, you can set performance indicators in a process to monitor how well it meets objectives.

Objectives can be qualitative or quantitative, and should cover the expected lifecycle of the process. For example, if you want to create an automated process to replace an existing process that uses paper forms, you could define objectives for how long it takes to fill out a form in the initial roll-out period, and after 6 months when users have become familiar with the new system. You could also define an objective for the savings achieved by no longer storing paper documents, or quality objectives that the process must meet before deployment.

Bonita will not help you to define the objectives for a project, but it will help you create metrics to check that your objectives are met.

Defining the application scope means defining the people who use it and their usage patterns, the information concerned, the level of security needed, and connections to external systems.

Using Bonita Studio, you can quickly sketch out the process flow, and create a diagram of the starting points, main steps, branches, decision points, and end points. Do this for each process in the application. At this stage, get agreement from the process owner and the key users before going further.

Things to think about:

There is no requirement to create a diagram for an application, because it is not executable in the same way as a process.
However, you should create a specification so that you can get agreement from the application owner and key users. One option is to use the Bonita Studio to create a diagram showing the usage patterns.
This diagram would not be executable, and should not be exported as a /bar file, nor deployed.

In the development phase of each process in an application, there are several aspects to define:

When the application definition and process definitions are complete, you will have defined what interaction users have with application pages and with each process task. Create the pages and forms needed.

Test each process individually before testing the application as a whole.

You can validate a process definition in Bonita Studio, in the Details panel, Validation status tab. The validation status indicates any errors or omissions in the definition. Correct any errors flagged in validation before testing the process.

Bonita Studio includes an environment for testing a process locally, before deployment. You can test each connector independently using the connector wizard Test button, then run the process by clicking Run to test it with connectors. You need to configure the process before testing it locally.

Bonita Studio contains an example organization, ACME, which you can use for testing a process or application.

When local testing is complete, depending on the environment where the application will run, you might also need to test the processes in a realistic system before putting the application into production, or perhaps to put it into production but for a limited number of users or cases.

When testing is complete, the processes are ready to be deployed in Bonita Portal and the application is ready to be put into production. You need to configure each process for deployment before putting it into production.

Before you can run a process in production, you need to define your organization with entries for all process users, groups, and roles. You also need to map the process actors to the real people who will carry out process steps.
You can manage your organization in Bonita Portal for a production system.
While you are in the testing phase, you can manage the organization in Bonita Studio.

After deployment, you can monitor usage and collect key performance indicators, to assess how well the process is meeting the objectives you defined.