Active Investigation Page

This page applies to business users. This page describes what actions are available during an active investigation.

Overview

In Process HQ, the active investigation page lets you take a closer look into specific patterns and issues in your workflow, so you can uncover insights that lead to process improvements.

To access this page, start an investigation or continue a saved investigation.

Elements

The following image highlights the elements of the active investigation page:

#	Element	Actions Available
1	Navigation bar	View the Process HQ overview page, the Process Insights page, the Data Catalog page, or the Data Governance page. Switch to another workspace like Appian Designer. The workspaces you can access depend on your user role and other security settings. Change settings for your user profile.
2	Breadcrumbs	Navigate to the Process Insights page or the process view page associated with the investigation.
3	Investigation header	View information about the investigation, including: Reduce Cycle Time for <Process Name>: Default title of the investigation. You can edit this name when you save an insight. Time Range: The date range for the investigation. Cases: The total number of cases in the investigation. This number reflects the filters and date range from the process view associated with the investigation Duration (Average): The average duration of cases in the investigation. Filters: The filters that define the view where you started the investigation.
4	Investigation control pane	Review and interact with process data. As you conduct an investigation, this pane allows you to: Review a process diagram constructed only from cases in the investigation. Review a list of attribute values or a list of sequences that are impacting the speed of the process. Drill into those attribute values or sequences to see a detailed analysis of the attribute details or sequence details. The analysis includes: Visualizations of important aspects of the analyzed data. A list of cases with the selected attribute value or sequence. Next steps you can perform in an investigation.
5	Insight pane	Track important findings in a tree format and view the cumulative effect of those findings on your potential savings. See the description for a full list of actions.

Attribute values list

When you start investigating an attribute, you'll see a list of attribute values associated with longer case durations. Attribute values that have the highest potential savings are listed at the top.

Each item in the list includes the following elements:

#	Description
1	The attribute value. For example, for an attribute named Country, this value would be the name of an individual country, like Spain.
2	The attribute name. For example, Country.
3	How much slower the average duration of cases with this attribute value are than the average duration of cases without this attribute value in this investigation.
4	The number of cases with this attribute value in this investigation.
5	The potential annual savings that Process HQ has calculated for cases with this attribute value. This number represents the time you could recover each year if you could make the average duration of cases with this attribute value match the average duration of cases in this investigation without the attribute value.

All Attributes list

When you're investigating attributes, you'll see the attribute value list by default, which displays only those attributes that are associated with the longest case durations. You can switch to a list of all attributes, however. This list can be useful if you already have an idea of an attribute you need to look into.

To view a list of all attributes of the process, click BROWSE ALL ATTRIBUTES above the list. The All Attributes list displays.

For example:

This table includes the following columns:

Column	Description
Attribute	The name of the attribute, and a count of the unique values for that attribute. Click an attribute to view the Duration Comparison for the attribute's values.
Attribute Values	A list of values for that attribute in the cases in the investigation. The SUGGESTED tag displays next to attribute values associated with the longest case durations. Click an attribute value to view the attribute value details.

Attribute value details

When you click on an attribute value in the attribute value list or all attributes list, Process HQ displays details of its analysis of that attribute value.

For example:

Attribute value details include the following elements:

• Finding: A sentence describing how much slower cases with the attribute value are than cases without the attribute value. To share this finding with others, click ADD TO INSIGHT.
• Potential Savings: The number of days you could save per year if you reduce the duration of all cases with this attribute value to the average duration of cases in this investigation.

• Metrics: Relevant statistics for this attribute value:

  Metric	Description
  Cases in investigation	The total number of cases with this attribute value in this investigation, along with the percentage of total cases in the investigation that those cases represent.
  Duration (Average)	The average duration of cases with this attribute value in this investigation.

• Visualizations: Charts displaying relevant statistics in relation to each other:
  • Duration Comparison
  • Duration Distribution
  • Duration Trend
• Cases: A list of cases with this attribute value in this investigation.

Sequences list

When you switch to investigating sequences, you'll be presented with a list of the sequences that occur in cases in the investigation. The sequences with the longest durations appear at the top of the list.

Each item in the list includes the following elements:

This format includes the following elements:

#	Description
1	The activity that starts the sequence.
2	The activity that ends the sequence.
3	How long (on average) the sequence takes when it occurs in cases in the investigation.
4	A count of how often this sequence occurs in cases in this investigation.
5	The potential annual savings that Process HQ has calculated for this sequence. This number represents the time you could recover each year if you improve the average duration of this sequence.

For example:

Sequence details

Process HQ displays details of its analysis of a sequence when you click a sequence in either of the following locations:

• In the process diagram on the Summary tab of a process view.
• In the sequences list of an active investigation.

For example:

Sequence details include the following elements:

• Finding: A sentence describing how much slower cases with the sequence are than cases without the sequence. To share this finding with others, click ADD TO INSIGHT.
• Potential Savings: The number of days you could save per year if you reduce the duration of this sequence.

• Metrics: Relevant statistics for this sequence:

  Metric	Description
  Cases	The total number of cases that contain this sequence, along with the percentage of cases in this investigation that those cases represent.
  Occurrences	The total number of times the sequence occurs in cases in this investigation.
  Avg. Occurrences	The average number of times the sequence occurs in individual cases in this investigation.
  Duration (Average)	The average duration of this sequence when it occurs in cases in this investigation.
  Total Duration	The total duration of all occurrences of this sequence in cases in this investigation.

• Visualizations: Charts displaying relevant statistics in relation to each other:
  
  • Duration Comparison
  • Duration Distribution
  • Duration Trend
• Cases: A list of cases with this sequence in this investigation.

Visualizations

The following sections describe the visualizations included in attribute and sequence details.

Duration Comparison

The elements in this visualization vary depending on whether you're investigating an attribute value or a sequence.

Attribute value

If you're investigating an attribute value, this chart compares the selected attribute value to other values of the attribute in the current investigation.

For example:

This table contains the following columns:

Column	Description
Attribute	An attribute value.
Duration	The average duration for cases in this investigation with this attribute value.
Difference	The difference between the average duration of cases with this attribute value and the average duration of cases with all other values of this attribute.
Volume	The percentage of total cases in the investigation that have this attribute value. Hover to see case counts.

Sequence

If you're investigating a sequence, this chart compares the selected sequence to other sequences in the current investigation.

For example:

This table contains the following columns:

Column	Description
Sequence	The name of the sequence, in the format of <start activity> <end activity>.
Total Duration	The total duration of all occurrences of this sequence in cases in this investigation.
Duration	The average duration of the sequence in cases in this investigation.
Difference	The difference between the average duration of the sequence and the average duration of the selected sequence.
Volume	The percentage of occurrences of that sequence in this insight. Hover to see the occurrence counts.

Duration Distribution

The elements in this visualization vary depending on whether you're investigating an attribute value or a sequence.

Attribute value

If you're investigating an attribute value, this chart displays how long cases with this attribute take on average (Duration) in relation to the number of cases with the attribute value (Case Count).

You can use this chart to identify the duration with the most amount of cases, so you can investigate further.

For example:

Sequence

If you're investigating a sequence, this chart displays how long occurrences of this sequence take on average (Duration) in relation to how many times the sequence occurs (Occurrence Count).

You can use this chart to identify the duration with the most amount of occurrences, so you can investigate further.

For example:

Duration Trend

The elements in this visualization vary depending on whether you're investigating an attribute value or a sequence.

Attribute value

If you're investigating an attribute value, this chart displays how long cases with the attribute value have taken over time (Duration) in relation to the number of cases with the attribute value (Volume (cases)).

You can use this chart to identify increases in case duration over time, so you can further investigate other attributes associated with those specific dates.

For example:

When evaluating this chart, keep in mind the following:

• An increase in average duration at the same time as an increase in case counts might indicate that the team handling the work needs additional resources.
• An increase in average duration without an increase in case counts might indicate that the process itself needs refinement.

Sequence

If you're investigating a sequence, this chart displays how long occurrences of this sequence have taken over time (Duration) in relation to how many times the sequence occurs (Volume (occurrences)).

You can use this chart to identify increases in sequence duration over time, so you can further investigate other attributes associated with those specific dates.

For example:

Cases

This list displays all cases with the selected attribute value or sequence.

For example:

This section contains the following elements:

#	Element	Actions Available
1	Case list	Sort cases by duration or recency. Scroll to see cases in this investigation with the selected attribute value or sequence. Click a case to see information about the case in the case details pane.
2	Case details pane	Review details about the selected case: Case Metrics: Metrics for the case, including: Start: The timestamp of the starting activity in this case. End: The timestamp of the ending activity in this case. Duration: The total duration of the case. Unique activities: A count of the unique activities that occurred in the case. Executed activities: A count of all activities that occurred in the case, including repetitions. Case Attributes: The names and values of attributes associated with the case. Activity Details: A chronological list of activities that occurred in this case.

Next Steps

As you add findings to your insight, you can use the steps below to continue your investigation:

Step	Description
Investigate Attributes	Review attributes shared by cases in the insight.
Investigate Sequences	Review sequences shared by cases in the insight. Note: You can add only one sequence per insight, so this action is not available if you've already added a sequence finding.
Save New Insight	Saves the current findings as a new insight. Insights with 2 to 3 findings usually have the right level of detail to discuss with your team.

Insight pane

As you add individual findings to an insight, the Insight pane tracks those findings in a tree format and displays the cumulative effect of those findings on your potential savings.

The following image highlights the elements of the Insight pane:

#	Element	Actions Available
1	Header	View a count of cases or sequence occurrences included in the insight. Clear all findings from the insight and start from scratch by clicking CLEAR. Save the current state of the insight by clicking SAVE CHANGES.
2	Findings section	View the findings that have been added to the insight: The findings are listed in the order in which they were added to the insight, as indicated by the arrow symbol. A full circle appears next to last finding added to the insight, and an empty circle appears next to any finding added prior to that finding. View details for the last added finding by clicking the menu for that finding, then selecting View Details. As appropriate to the finding, the attribute value details or sequence details displays in the investigation pane. Remove the last added finding in the insight by clicking the menu for that finding, then selecting Remove.
3	Potential Savings section	View the potential savings calculated for the combined findings in the insight.

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