Process-centered design (PCD) is a
design methodology, which proposes a business centric approach for designing
user interfaces. Because of the multi-stage
business analysis
Business analysis is a professional discipline of identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems. Solutions often include a software-systems development component, but may also consist of process improvements, organiza ...
steps involved right from the beginning of the PCD life cycle, it is believed to achieve the highest levels of
business-IT alignment that is possible through UI.
Purpose
This method is aimed at enterprise applications where there is a business process involved. Unlike content oriented systems such as
website
A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and W ...
s or portals, enterprise applications are built to enable a company's business processes. Enterprise applications often have a clear
business goal and a set of specific objectives like- improve
employee productivity
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
, increase
business performance by a certain percent, etc.
Comparison between other popular UI design methods
Although there are proven UI design methodologies (like the most popular "
user-centered design
User-centered design (UCD) or user-driven development (UDD) is a framework of process (not restricted to interfaces or technologies) in which usability goals, user characteristics, environment, tasks and workflow of a product, service or proc ...
", which helps design highly Usable Interfaces), PCD differentiates itself by precisely catering to business process intensive software which has not been the case with other UI design methodologies.
Process-UI alignment
Process-UI alignment is a component of PCD, which ensures tight alignment between the business process and the enterprise application being developed.
UI design activities are affected by PCD.
For example: A
call center
A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone. ...
software used by a
customer support
Customer support is a range of services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, troubleshooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. Reg ...
agent, if designed for high process-UI alignment will achieve tremendous agent productivity improvement and call center performance; which is not likely to be seen if it were designed only for user satisfaction, ease of use, etc.
See also
*
Business process
A business process, business method or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...
*
Overall labor effectiveness
Overall labor effectiveness (OLE) is a key performance indicator (KPI) that measures the utilization, performance, and quality of the workforce and its impact on productivity.
Similar to overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), OLE measures avail ...
*
User-centered design
User-centered design (UCD) or user-driven development (UDD) is a framework of process (not restricted to interfaces or technologies) in which usability goals, user characteristics, environment, tasks and workflow of a product, service or proc ...
Figma resourcesFigma tutorials and resources*
Usability
Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a sof ...
References
External links
* Align Journal, October 3, 2007, Retrieved on Aug 01, 2008
Process-User Interface Alignment: New Value From a New Level of Alignment* More research exploring the relation between business process and user interfaces
ACM SAC 2008: Sousa, Mendonca, Vanderdonckt
{{Design
Design
User interfaces
Usability
Business process
Information technology management
Software development process
Workflow technology