Gesture-Based Process Modeling Using Multi-Touch Devices

Abstract

Contemporary business process modeling tools provide menu-based user interfaces for defining and visualizing process models. Such menu-based interactions have been optimized for applications running on desktop computers, but are limited regarding their use on multi-touch devices. At the same time, the widespread use of mobile devices in daily business life as well as their multi-touch capabilities offer promising perspectives for intuitively defining and changing business process models. Additionally, multi-touch tables will foster collaborative business process modeling based on natural as well as intuitive gestures and interactions. This paper presents the results of an experiment that investigated the way users define and change business process models using multi-touch devices. Based on experiment results, a core gesture set is designed enabling the easy definition and change of business process models with multi-touch devices. Finally, a proof-of-concept implementation of this core gesture set is presented. Overall, gesture-based process modeling and multi-touch devices will foster new ways of (collaborative) business process modeling.