Process Scorecards

This page describes process scorecards and how to use them in Process Mining.

What are process scorecards?

Process scorecards allow you to track performance or savings metrics for your mined processes. Scorecards are designed to be simple to analyze and share with others. When you add event logs to refresh your data, you can continuously revisit associated scorecards to track your latest progress towards performance or savings goals.

• If you want to score multiple processes based on case duration key performance indicators (KPIs), see performance scorecards.
• If you want to calculate your cost savings after implementing a new, more efficient process, see savings scorecards.

Performance scorecards

Performance scorecards allow you to track, analyze, and share performance trend summaries for multiple processes. Performance scorecards automatically assign processes both a score and corresponding status to let you know at a glance how they are performing against expectations.

Performance scorecards are a great way to report on performance trends and health for your mined processes. Each scorecard is a high-level overview of how your processes are performing against case duration KPIs. The custom performance objectives that you configure are the basis for automatic scores that are given to each process. You can view these scores as an average or as a historical trend over a configured time frame.

How are processes scored?

The score is the percentage of cases that are within the case duration threshold and time frame that you configure. Case duration is the amount of time a case or single occurrence of a process takes to complete from the first activity through the last activity.

The status is determined by the percentage of cases that fall within boundaries you configure, and this indicates whether action is necessary to resolve performance issues. You can configure these boundaries independently for each process.

The following table indicates the default statuses and corresponding boundary ranges:

Status	Score Boundary (Default)
Good	Greater than or equal to 80%
Needs Attention	From 79% through 41%
Critical	Less than or equal to 40%

Create a performance scorecard

Performance scorecards allow you to view and share performance trends for multiple processes.

To create a performance scorecard:

1. Click Management Hub in the sidebar.
2. Go to PROCESS SCORECARDS
3. Click NEW.
4. Select Performance.
5. Click NEXT.

6. Select one or more event logs that correspond to the processes you want to track. If there are many logs, you can refine the list with the Search field.

   Note:  Appian recommends adding no more than 10 logs to a single scorecard for readability and performance.

7. Click NEXT.
8. Set the case duration threshold for each process in the date and time fields. For example, 1 in y and 6 in mo is a threshold of 1.5 years. Your thresholds can be precise down to the millisecond (ms). See How are processes scored? for more information.
9. Use the boundary slider to set the range of score thresholds. These boundaries define which status displays next to each process.
10. Click NEXT.
11. Configure the remaining scorecard information:
    • Name: The name that displays on the Process Scorecards page.
    • Description: The description that displays on the Process Scorecards page.
    • Time frame: Filters the scorecard data to a specific range of dates.
    • Group by: The dimension used to calculate the number of cases within the threshold.
    • View: Select Graph or Metrics. Graph displays the score over the time frame on a line graph. Metrics displays the score and status in a table.
    • Metric: Average case duration by default.
12. Click SAVE.

You can temporarily edit the time frame, view, and grouping for the scorecard at any time from the configuration pane for exploratory purposes. To make permanent changes, click ADJUST CONFIGURATION and edit the scorecard's details.

Analyze performance scorecards

A process scorecard groups one or more processes into a single performance summary including each process's name, score, status, and view. You can edit the time frame, view, and grouping from the configuration pane to analyze your scorecard in different ways. These options allow you to explore your data and won't update the scorecard's permanent configuration:

• Time Frame: Filters the scorecard data to a specific range of dates.
• View: Select Graph or Metrics. Graph displays the score over the time frame on a line graph. Metrics displays the score and status in a table.
• Group by: The dimension used to calculate the number of cases within the threshold. This correlates with the x-axis of the line graph or the column headers for the Metrics view.

Scorecard view

You can visualize a process's score over time with either a Graph or Metrics view.

The Graph view is enabled by default. This view is particularly helpful for identifying trends in your processes.

When you want to dig into more details, you can switch to the Metrics view. This view makes it easier to see the process scores and average case duration for each period of the selected time frame. For example, if you group by Month, the scorecard displays the specific scores and average case durations that apply to each individual month.

A case applies to the time period in which it starts, even if it ends in a later time period. For example, if a case starts in January and ends in February, its data will display in January only.

Savings scorecards

Savings scorecards allow you to calculate, track, and share cost savings that result from implementing a new, more efficient process. When compared with your previous process, you may find that your current process costs less due to new efficiencies. This is especially true when you take advantage of our unified low-code suite to discover optimization opportunities with Appian Process Mining and when you leverage our automation capabilities to reduce manual work.

You can also set a savings goal and continuously track your progress towards it.

What's the difference between previous and current process costs?

When you are creating a savings scorecard, you’ll need to be mindful about the difference between your previous and current process costs.

• Previous process cost: The average cost to execute your previous process once, before implementing your current process.
• Current process cost: The average cost to execute each activity in your current process. The sum of the activity costs equals your current process cost.

The values you enter for your previous and current processes should represent average costs. For your previous process, you'll enter the average cost per case. For your current process, you'll enter the average cost per activity, which will sum to a cost per case.

The current process effective date should represent the point in time you switched to your current process. We'll calculate your savings from this date forward.

How are savings calculated?

Savings are calculated by comparing how much your previous process cost compared to your current process. If your current process costs less, your savings will increase each time it executes. Process Mining determines how often your current process activities run based on the event log you select. This is important because activities can occur at different frequencies for different variants of your process.

The following graphic illustrates an example scenario and savings calculation:

You need to provide the average cost to run your previous process and the average cost to run each activity in your current process. Process Mining will calculate the rest for you.

Based on the previous example, you'd input the following value when creating your scorecard:

PREVIOUS PROCESS COST: 50

CURRENT PROCESS COST

• Activity 1: 10
• Activity 2: 5
• Activity 3: 7

In this example, the previous process cost $50 to execute; the current process cost $32 for the first case and $39 for the second case.

Let's break down the savings calculation after two process executions:

Case	Activity 1	Activity 2	Activity 3	Calculation	Process Cost
#1	2x	1x	1x	(2*$10)+(1*$5)+(1*$7)	$32
#2	1x	3x	2x	(1*$10)+(3*$5)+(2*$7)	$39

Total current process costs = $32+$39 = $71

Total previous process costs = $50+$50 = $100

Total savings = $100 - $71 = $29

Create a savings scorecard

Savings scorecards allow you to calculate and share cost saving trends for a process that you enhanced.

To create a savings scorecard:

1. Click Management Hub in the sidebar.
2. Go to PROCESS SCORECARDS
3. Click NEW.
4. Select Savings.
5. Click NEXT.
6. Select log a that represents your current process.
7. Click NEXT.
8. Enter your PREVIOUS PROCESS COST. This value represents the cost to execute your previous process once.
9. Enter your CURRENT PROCESS EFFECTIVE DATE. This value represents the date you switched to using your current process.
10. Click INPUT COST PER ACTIVITY.
11. Enter your Current Activity Cost for each activity in your current process. These values represent the cost to execute each activity once in your current process. If you leave a field empty, the system will consider the activity cost to be zero.
12. Click SAVE.
13. Click NEXT.
14. Optionally, select Set a savings goal if you want to track your progress towards a savings goal.
    • Enter the total savings goal amount you'd like to track on the scorecard in Savings Goal.
    • Enter the date you want to achieve this goal in Goal Date.
15. Click NEXT.
16. Finish your scorecard by including a Name and Description to help identify it when you share it with others.
17. Click FINISH.

Your scorecard will display as shown in the following example. Here, you can analyze your savings or share the scorecard with others in your organization.

Analyze savings scorecards

Savings scorecards are broken into four main sections:

• Header
• Charts
• Metrics
• Footer

Header

The header displays the scorecard name, the range of dates for the data in the scorecard, and what time frame is used to group data on the scorecard.

To adjust the time frame used to group data, select Year, Quarter, Month, Week, or Day from Group by. In the following example, the scorecard is grouped by Month, so the data is broken up by month. As the time frame for your data increases, you may find it easier to interpret the chart with Quarter or Year groupings.

Charts

The charts section displays a chart representing your savings and a GOAL PROGRESS section tracking your progress towards the savings goal you set. The GOAL PROGRESS section only displays if you set a savings goal.

The chart is grouped on the x-axis by the time frame you set in the header. The y-axis represents the amount you've saved. The columns indicate how much you saved in each time frame, and the line indicates the total savings over time. The gray dotted line and columns indicate how much Appian expects you'll save based on your current data.

The GOAL PROGRESS section tracks your progress towards your Savings Goal and Goal Date. If you are projected to achieve your savings goal:

• Ahead of your goal date, the timeline displays in green with a thumbs up .
• Behind your goal date, the timeline displays in red with a thumbs down .

The timeline in GOAL PROGRESS gives you a new perspective to visualize and track your progress towards your savings goal. In this example, you achieved your savings goal of $800k on Aug 30, 2022, two days ahead of your Goal Date you set as Sep 1, 2022. The timeline indicates if the value is:

• Planned: This is the goal you set.
• Projected: This is when Appian expects the goal to be achieved.
• Achieved: This is when you actually achieved your goal.

Metrics

The metrics section displays glanceable information about your:

• TOTAL SAVINGS: The total amount of money you've saved using your current process.
• AVERAGE SAVINGS: The average amount of money you've saved using your current process, grouped by the time frame you set in the first section.
• CURRENT SAVINGS: The amount of money you've saved in the current day, week, month, quarter, or year, depending on the time frame you set in the header.

Footer

The footer displays:

• Process Effective Date: The date you switched from using your previous process to your current process. This is the starting point for all information on the savings scorecard.
• Savings Calculated On: The date the scorecard was last updated. Whenever you update the underlying event log, the scorecard will update.

Manage process scorecards

You create, edit, share, and delete process scorecards from the management hub.

To view process scorecards:

1. Sign in to Process Mining.
2. In the management hub, go to PROCESS SCORECARDS.
3. Click the scorecard name that you want to view.

Create process scorecards

Go to PROCESS SCORECARDS in the management hub to create a new savings or performance scorecard.

• See Create a performance scorecard for instructions on how to create a performance scorecard.
• See Create a savings scorecard for instructions on how to create a savings scorecard.

Edit process scorecards

To edit an existing scorecard:

1. Click Management Hub in the sidebar.
2. Go to PROCESS SCORECARDS.
3. Select a process scorecard.
4. Click the button that corresponds to the action you want to take:
   • EDIT NAME: Change the scorecard's name.
   • EDIT DESCRIPTION: Change the scorecard's description.
   • CONFIGURE: Change the scorecard configuration such as which logs to include and the performance thresholds. See Create process scorecards for more information about configuration options.

While you are viewing an existing performance scorecard, you can click ADJUST CONFIGURATION to edit it from the configuration pane.

While you are viewing an existing savings scorecard, you can click CONFIGURE SAVINGS to edit its configuration.

Share process scorecards

Sharing process scorecards is a great way to report high-level overviews of process performance to managers or other process stakeholders. You can share your own scorecards, but you can't share scorecards that were shared with you.

To share a scorecard:

1. Click Management Hub in the sidebar.
2. Go to PROCESS SCORECARDS.
3. Select a process scorecard.
4. Click SHARE.
5. Select the radio button that describes with whom the scorecard should be shared:
   • If you want to share with your entire organization, select Share with whole organization.
   • If you want to share with specific users, select Share with individual users (default).
6. If you selected Share with individual Users, select the checkboxes next to the users in the list.
7. Click SAVE.

To stop sharing a scorecard:

1. Click Management Hub in the sidebar.
2. Go to PROCESS SCORECARDS.
3. Select a process scorecard.
4. Click UNSHARE

Delete process scorecards

To delete a scorecard:

1. Click Management Hub in the sidebar.
2. Go to PROCESS SCORECARDS.
3. Select a process scorecard.
4. Click DELETE.

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