Get Started with Composer: Define Your Scope

Appian Composer generates an application plan from the inputs you provide. The clearer and more complete your inputs, the more accurate your plan.

To ensure Composer can generate an accurate plan, you must scope your application. Scoping is the process of defining what your application covers: what's included, what's excluded, and what stays outside its boundaries. Start by answering these questions:

• What problem are you solving?
• Who are your users?
• What workflows or processes are involved?
• What are your application's boundaries?

How you answer these questions depends on what you already have:

• Provide existing documentation: If you already have the type of inputs Composer accepts, provide them directly to Composer.
• Define requirements from an idea: If you don't have existing documentation, capture your requirements first using Appian's requirements template or by answering key questions.

Provide existing documentation

Composer works with both formal and informal documentation. You don't need polished documentation to get started. Any resource that clearly communicates your requirements will work.

Formal documentation

The following structured documents work well as inputs for Composer:

• Business Requirements Documents (BRDs): A formal BRD provides defined personas, functional requirements, step-by-step workflow descriptions, and desired improvements in the new application.

• User stories and story maps: A collection of user stories from agile tools like Jira captures user goals and functional requirements effectively.

Informal documentation

The following unstructured documents are highly effective for capturing your application goals and design intent:

• Meeting notes and brainstorming sessions: Transcripts, whiteboard notes, user manuals, or chat threads that capture the rationale behind your application decisions.

• Design mockups and wireframes: Figma links, digital sketches, or slide decks that visually outline user flows and user interface concepts.

• Workflow diagrams and process maps: Process diagrams, flowcharts, or Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) diagrams that map the sequence of activities.

• Competitive analysis: Screenshots, feature lists, or reference links from existing tools that show what success looks like.

• Stakeholder interviews: User research, feedback summaries, or direct quotes that ground the application in real user needs.

• Technical documentation: System architecture diagrams, data dictionaries, data models from legacy systems, integration points from external systems, and API documentation.

Define requirements from an idea

If you don't have existing documentation and are starting with just an idea, you still need to create a document to capture your requirements for Composer.

Use one of the following options to define your ideas and requirements before using Composer:

• Use the requirements template provided by Appian. Use this document if you need a comprehensive, structured approach for a complex application with multiple workflows, or if you must secure stakeholder approval upfront.

• Answer key questions. Use this lighter approach if you want to get started quickly, have a simple application, or prefer to iterate and refine requirements as you build.

Use the requirements template

Appian's recommended standardized requirements template walks you through defining your application scope step by step. Use the template when you want a comprehensive, structured approach to defining your scope, particularly for a complex application with multiple workflows or when stakeholders need to review and approve requirements.

Download the requirements template and fill in each section. After completing the template, provide it directly to Composer as your starting input.

The template walks you through defining the following areas of your application:

• Overview: Executive summary, current state, and future state vision.
• Personas: Who will use the app and what they need to accomplish.
• Functional requirements: Detailed user stories and process narratives.
• Screens and user experience: Key interfaces and device requirements.
• Business rules: Validation, calculations, and automation logic.
• Data model: Entities, fields, and relationships.
• Integrations: External systems and data sources.
• Security and access: Who can see and do what.
• Glossary: Industry-specific terms and acronyms.

Answer key questions

Answering key questions is a lighter approach to defining your scope, best for a simple application or when you want to start quickly and refine as you build.

Clarify your application goals by addressing four foundational scoping areas:

• Identify the problem: What business problem are you solving? What pain points exist today? What's the desired outcome?
• Define the user base: Who will use this application? What are their roles? What do they need to accomplish?
• List key workflows: What are the main workflows or use cases? What's the sequence of steps? Who's involved at each step?
• Set boundaries: What's included in this application? What's explicitly excluded? What integrations are needed?

Use your answers to describe your application parameters directly to Composer.

Example: New employee onboarding app

The following example shows how one team answered the key questions to scope a new application.

A company wants to replace a manual onboarding process where new hires fill out 15 forms across disconnected systems during their first week, causing delays and confusion.

The company identified three user types: new hires who submit personal information, HR coordinators who review and process submissions, and IT admins who provision accounts.

The core workflow is straightforward: a new hire submits their information, HR reviews it, IT provisions the necessary accounts, and the new hire receives their credentials.

To keep the scope focused, they included the onboarding process, document collection, and account provisioning, but excluded payroll setup, benefits enrollment, and performance reviews.

Refine and iterate on your plan

After generating your application plan:

1. Review with stakeholders to validate requirements and approach.
2. Refine based on feedback using Composer and the planning tabs.
3. Continue iterating as you learn more during development.

When your inputs are ready, generate your application plan in Composer.

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