Manage Processes

Overview

The Process tab provides a visual, dynamic diagram of your application's business processes. Based on the requirements and personas you've already defined, this view uses an interactive canvas and helps you and your stakeholders align on the expected flow of work, key decisions, and outcomes before development begins.

It is important to understand the role of the process diagram in the application planning process:

• Logical, not executable: The process you create in Composer is a high-level logical model designed to capture the business view of the process. It is not a fully configured, executable Appian process model.
• Foundation for process models: This process serves as the foundation for generating executable process models. However, the transformation is not one-to-one. A single process diagram may result in multiple process models in your application. A developer will need to perform further refinement and build out the final process models.

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Common use cases for processes

Use processes in Composer for the following scenarios:

• Align on requirements: Walk through the visual process diagram with both business and IT stakeholders to confirm that the application requirements are correctly understood and represented. This is ideal for ensuring alignment on a primary process before development begins.
• Model complex processes: For complex applications, you can model multiple related or unrelated processes. You can also break down a single large process into smaller, more readable sub-sections for clarity.

Create your process

The process canvas is the interactive area where you model your process. You can drag and drop different nodes onto the canvas to represent the steps in your business process. Composer automatically provides swimlanes based on the different parties responsible for tasks, such as different user roles or system actors.

To create your process:

1. Navigate to the Process tab to access the process canvas.
2. Define the workflow using the following nodes:
   • Start and End Events: Use Start and End events to mark the beginning and end of a process.
   • Activity: Represent tasks that need to be completed. These can be user tasks (requiring human interaction) or automated tasks (performed by Appian).
   • Gateway: Represent decision points in your process where the path can change based on specific conditions or rules you have defined.
3. Use connectors to link the nodes together, showing the sequence of steps. You can also create looping structures for steps that need to be repeated.

Edit a node

After adding nodes to your process diagram, you may need to refine them as your understanding of the business process evolves. Editing a node allows you to update its name, add context through a description, or change its type to better reflect the kind of work being performed at that step.

You might edit a node when:

• A task that was initially modeled as a user action should instead be automated.
• You want to add a description to clarify the purpose of a step for stakeholders reviewing the diagram.
• The name of a step needs to be updated to match revised requirements.
• A process step needs to be reclassified, for example, from an AI process to an external integration.

Each node's type determines how that step will be interpreted during object generation. Choosing the correct type helps ensure that the generated process models align with your intended implementation approach.

To edit a node on the process diagram:

1. Click on the node you want to edit.
2. Select the Edit icon.
3. In the Edit Node dialog, configure the following fields:
   • Name (required): Enter a descriptive name for the node.
   • Description: Optionally provide additional details about what this node represents.
   • Type (required): Select the type of activity this node represents:
     • User Action: A task that requires human interaction.
     • External Integration: A step that connects to an external system or service.
     • RPA Process: A task automated through robotic process automation.
     • AI Process: A task that leverages AI capabilities.
     • AI Agent: A task performed by an AI agent.
     • Automated Process: A task that is automatically executed by the system.
4. Click Submit to save your changes, or Cancel to discard them.

Delete a node

If a step is no longer relevant to your process, you can remove it from the process diagram.

To delete a node:

1. Click on the node you want to remove.
2. Select the Delete icon.

The node is immediately removed from the process canvas.

AI-assisted process modeling

You can use AI Copilot to build and modify your process diagram using natural language. AI Copilot acts as an active planner that understands the current state of your diagram and application requirements to execute structural changes directly on the process canvas.

Supported actions via AI Copilot

• Add user tasks: Add new user or automated tasks at the end of a workflow or between existing nodes. Example: "Add a manager approval task after submitting application."
• Define decision logic and gateways: Describe business conditions to have AI Copilot insert and configure gateways and connectors. Example: "If the risk score is low, proceed to the next step; otherwise, send it to manager approval."
• Create loops: Create loops to repeat a set of steps until certain conditions are met. Example: "If the application is not approved, loop back to the update application step."
• Modify node types: Change the functionality of an existing task without deleting it. Example: "Change the 'Notify Customer' task from a user task to an automated 'Send Email' task."
• Configure escalations: Add time-based rules to tasks to ensure timely completion. Example: "Add an escalation to the manager approval task; if no action is taken in 24 hours, send a reminder notification."

Edit the process with AI Copilot

To build or modify your process using AI Copilot:

1. Navigate to the Process tab.
2. Click AI Copilot to open the chat interface.
3. Describe your business requirement or enter a command in the chat field.
4. Click the paper plane icon .
   AI Copilot translates your business requirements into structural updates.
5. Review the changes on the process diagram.

AI Copilot performs basic validation to ensure the changes result in a logical workflow. For example, it automatically connects the nodes to maintain a continuous path and ensures alignment with the application requirements.

Limitations

AI Copilot significantly accelerates process modeling. However, it has some limitations:

• Visual layout: AI Copilot focuses on logical connectivity and node properties. It does not perform complex visual layout management. You may still need to manually adjust node positions for optimal readability.
• Destructive actions: To protect your design, AI Copilot does not delete nodes or entire sections of the workflow.
• Inquiry restrictions: AI Copilot does not proactively query or modify data in other tabs, such as the Personas, during the same interaction.

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