Business Process Design Space

19+ cards

Define, question, and rethink

business process designs
 Easy as 1, 2, 3!

1 This set of cards collectively form the

design space of business processes. You
can think of a design space to include all
possible design alternatives. As this is
quiet a few, design dimensions provide
structure to explore this space. Each card
in this deck is a design dimension.

2 A design dimension is supported by a

guiding question, an instruction for appli-
cation, possible characteristics, and an
example application. Use these cards to
ideate alternative process designs system-
atically.

3 Have fun and be creative!

Did you know the Business Process Design Space is based on research? Find the full
research article open access at https://doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-03-2020-0116
The research was conducted by Steven Gross, Katharina Stelzl, Thomas Grisold,
Jan Mendling, Maximilian Röglinger, and Jan vom Brocke

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
 The design space concept is easy! Have a look at this
example of a design space for a table.
Can you think of other dimensions/characteristics?
Intro

*ideate/choose/combine characteristics to generate a design, e.g.

 Here are the layers of the Business Process Design
Space. All design dimensions are grouped into these
layers. The colors help you to navigate!

Customer Organization
Business Process
Product/service Design Space
Information
Business process Technology
Customer segment
Customer layer

A B

Business Process Design Space

 1

Customer
segment
How can the process deviate for
different customer segments?

Identify potential groups of customers and

determine different process designs for each of
these groups. You can also combine this card with
other cards to determine alternative process
designs for each group.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Demographic (e.g. age, Airlines, like Lufthansa,
occupation, gender) differ the check-in
i Geographic (e.g. country, process based on the
region, population previous consumption
density) behavior (collected
i Psychographic (e.g.
miles)
lifestyle, social, or per-
sonality characteristics)
i Behavioral (e.g. purchas-
ing, consumption, or
usage behavior) criteria Card set by Steven Gross
Customer experience
Customer layer

Business Process Design Space

 2

Customer
experience
Which experience does the customer
gain through the process?

Imagine you are a customer of the process. Change

how the process is perceived while the value prop-
osition remains the same. One means to change the
experience is to consider and adapt touchpoints
throughout the process. You may also think about
potential emotions that are triggered.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Active or passive The social payment
i Real or virtual platform Venmo enables
i Mass-produced or to broadcast transac-
customized tions to a public
i With others or alone transaction feed and
i Functional or thereby creates an
emotional experience with others
i Pleasurable or arousing
Customer value
Customer layer

Business Process Design Space

 3

Customer
value
Which (additional) value can the
customer receive through the
process?
Imagine you are a customer of the process.
Integrate additional customer value into the
process. This can be directly, indirectly, or
unrelated to the initial value proposition.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Functional (e.g. reduces Various airlines intro-
risk, reduces costs, duced an option for
simplifies, quality) voluntary carbon offset-
i Emotional (e.g. reduced ting in their booking
anxiety, entertainment, processes. By doing so,
rewards me) the airlines add the value
i Life-changing ‘self-transcendence’ by
(motivation, affiliation/ giving the option to have
belonging, provides a social impact during
hope) the booking process
i Social impact
(self-transcendence)
Customer channel
Customer layer

Business Process Design Space

 4

Customer
channel
How can customers interact with
the organization/process?

Question every interaction with the customer

within the process. Try to come up with different
touchpoints and/or include/exclude points of
interaction.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Functional (e.g. web- DocOnline is a digital
sites, emails, live chats) healthcare service
i Social (e.g. LinkedIn, provider in India, which
Facebook, Foursquare) offers online access to
i Community (e.g. physicians through
forums and blogs) different modes of
i Corporate (e.g. forms, interaction, e.g. through
magazines, digital (text-, audio-, or video)
advertisements) live chat
Scope
Product/service layer

Business Process Design Space

 5

Scope
What does the customer really
want to achieve and (how) can this
be integrated into the process?
Abstract from the current process and identify
why a customer is using/interacting with the
process in the first place. Take a bird's eyes view.
By identifying the real intention of the customer,
you can include (or exclude) certain functionalities
into the process which supports the customer to
come closer to the actual intention.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Inclusion or exclusion The Irish low budget
of process logic or airline Ryanair integrated
functionalities during into its flight booking
the process execution, process the options to
which can be narrow acquire transfers to the
or broad airport/city, get parking
at or close to the air-
port, and to hire a car
Card set by Steven Gross
Flow unit
Product/service layer

Business Process Design Space

 6

Flow unit

What/who runs through the

process during its execution?

Use the process in its current form to achieve

something else. Adapt what is going through the
process, e.g. by changing the physical artifacts or
information that are traversing the process.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Unit of input (e.g. a Uber does not only offer
customer, patient, raw peer-to-peer ridesharing
material) (Uber ride) but also
i Unit of one or several offers transport of food
intermediate products (Uber eats) and patients
or components (e.g. (Uber health) with a
bicycle frame in an similar process yet
assembly process) different flow units
i Unit of output (e.g. a (passenger, food, pa-
serviced customer or tients)
finished product)
Location
Product/service layer

Business Process Design Space

 7

Location
Where is the process executed /
available? Where does it start?
Where does it end?

Change the location for (parts of) the process.

You can increase or intentionally restrict the
geographic flexibility. You can also include certain
actions based on location constraints and distances.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Stationary or mobile Austrian Airlines offers
i Stationary: A specific specific customers to
position (e.g. airport, drop-off their luggage at
train station, home) or a Viennese train station.
an area (e.g. Switzer- Thus, the regular loca-
land or Italy) tion for dropping-off the
luggage changed from
the airport to the train
station
Temporality
Product/service layer

Business Process Design Space

 8

Temporality
When is the process executed /
available? When does it start?
When does it end?
Change the time of execution or availability for
(parts of) the process. You can increase or
intentionally restrict the time-related flexibility.
You can also include certain actions based on
time constraints and time measures.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Availability, execution, Domino’s Pizza is a
or termination of a multinational food chain
process at a specific which integrated an
point in time or time- optional delivery
span guarantee into its deliv-
i E.g. a certain time of ery process. For an
the day, week, month, additional charge, the
or a season of the year customer receives the
pizza for free if the
guaranteed delivery time
was not met
Coordination
Business process layer

Business Process Design Space

 9

Coordination
How is the process structured in terms of
activities, events, and actors? Should there
be more/less structure (for specific cases)?
How many variants of the process exist? Is the
coordination transparent?
Determine how strictly the processes should be
coordinated and what's the specific order of process
elements. You may increase flexibility or controls
within your process. You may increase or reduce
the process transparency for the customer.
Possible characteristics Example application
i Standard processes A standard shipping
(single variety, repeti- process provided by UPS
tive, binary logic) allows customers to
i Routine processes send packages. Since a
(limited set of variety, delivery address can
similar but not identical change during shipping,
repetition, fuzzy logic) UPS has also established
i Non-routine processes routine processes to
(unlimited set of change an address after
variety, non-repetitive, an order has been placed
interpretative logic) Card set by Steven Gross
Trigger
Business process layer

10

Business Process Design Space

 10

Trigger
What/Who starts the process?

Identify different starting points for your process.

The process can be manually triggered (e.g. by
different or newly integrated participant) or
automatically triggered (e.g. by integrating infor-
mation from another process or by integrating
certain technology into the process).
Possible characteristics Example application
i Message events (e.g. Amazon introduced
order is received, need anticipatory shipping.
is identified) Based on an estimated
i Temporal events likelihood, the shipping
(e.g. every Friday process might start even
morning, every work- before the customer
ing day of the month) actively decides to buy a
i Conditional events product
(a business rule is met)
i Signal events
(a process starts
another process)
Outcome
Business process layer

11

Business Process Design Space

 11

Outcome
What are possible ends of the
process? How can we react to
negative outcomes?

Identify all possible ends of the process. For each

process end determine how you want to react
(differently). Imagine other possible ends to the
process which are not yet part of it.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Message events In the event of an unex-
(e.g. package sent, loan pected delay of train or
approved) flight, Lufthansa Express
i Temporal events (e.g. Rail will change to another
Sunday night, two weeks train connection free of
after the last interaction) charge
i Signal events
(another process ends
the process)
i Error events (e.g.
product not available)
Objectives
Organization layer

12

Business Process Design Space

 12

Objectives
How do we define and measure
process success? What do we want
to achieve with the process in terms
of objectives?
Identify and rank the strategic goals that are
relevant when executing the process. Then identify
means how these can be assured/integrated by
adapting the process design accordingly.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Financial (e.g. return on Amazon aims to
capital, shareholder strengthen the trust of
value), its customers into its
i Customer (e.g. image and purchasing process by
reputation, customer having the customer re-
relationships) confirming the desire to
i Internal processes (e.g. order if the same item is
quality, time, or flexibility) repeatedly ordered
i Learning and growth (e.g.
technology leadership,
employee capabilities) Card set by Steven Gross
Internal participants
Organization layer

13

Business Process Design Space

 13

Internal
participants
Who is doing what during the
process execution?

Identify internal participants that are already inter-

acting with the process. Change who is doing what
in the process. You may also integrate new/exclude
existing participants.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Process responsibilities Emergency services are
(e.g. process owner, increasingly using apps
process managers) that notify registered
i Competencies or users about close-by
disciplinary responsibil- emergencies (e.g. cardiac
ities of activities (e.g. attack). Qualified per-
for the allocation of sons who use the app
resources or legal (e.g. nurses) are included
matters) in the emergency pro-
cess to administer first
aid before paramedics
arrive
Revenue model
Organization layer

14

Business Process Design Space

 14

Revenue
model
How/where can we generate
revenue (differently)?

Disregard the current source of revenue in the

process and come up with new direct and indirect
revenue sources.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Revenue techniques In the UK-based café
(e.g. advertising-based, chain ZIFERBLAT cus-
commission-based or tomers pay for the time
licensing-based revenue spent in the venue and
logics) not for their consump-
i Revenue sources (e.g. tion. While the underly-
new revenue models ing process remains
through digitalization) similar, the revenue
model changed
Business partner
Organization layer

15

Business Process Design Space

 15

Business
partner
Which parts of the process can
we outsource/insource?

Use knowledge and economies of scale of potential

business partners to outsource parts of the process
internally and externally. Also question the necessi-
ty of all outsourced activities in the process.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Suppliers (delivering Sellers can outsource
materials or services to activities related to sales,
be further processed) marketing, and distribu-
i Intermediaries (agents tion to Amazon
between organization
and customers)
i Alliance partners
(producing comple-
mentary products or
services)
Information source
Information layer

16

Business Process Design Space

 16

Information
source
How can we integrate new/
different data into the process?

Identify possible sources of data that can be inte-

grated into the process, either for generating the
same value proposition differently or for integrating
new functionalities and value propositions.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Internal (existing or Social media analysis
self-generated) providers, such as
i External (acquired, Awario, enable organi-
customer provided, zations to monitor
free available; e.g. customer satisfaction,
social media or web- brand reputation, and
crawled) other indicators in real-
time through publicly
shared social media
posts Card set by Steven Gross
Information usage
Information layer

17

Business Process Design Space

 17

Information
usage
How can we use the information
collected/gathered in the process?

Determine all information gathered in the process

and assess how this information can be of value,
either within the process itself, within the organiza-
tion, or outside the organization.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Generation (crawling, US-based The Weather
crowdsourcing) Company is primarily
i Processing concerned with weather
i Analytics (descriptive, forecasts. It started to
predictive, prescrip- sell weather data to
tive) retailers and advertisers
i Visualization enabling them to apply
i Distribution of process weather-based selling
data strategies
Infrastructure
Technology layer

18

Business Process Design Space

 18

Infrastructure

Which software or hardware could

support the process’ execution and
in what ways?

Identify software and hardware technology that can

be used to organize and execute the process or to
integrate it into the process landscape and the
organization's IT infrastructure.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Ability to support Process management
process-related needs, solutions, e.g. Signavio
e.g. by monitoring Process Manager, sup-
work-related activities port organizations to
and events (e.g. differ- model, communicate,
ent BPMS solutions) execute, and monitor
i Storing, distributing, their business processes
and searching relevant
information (e.g. differ-
ent ECMS solutions) Card set by Steven Gross
Automation
Technology layer

19

Business Process Design Space

 19

Automation
How can the event detection, activity
execution, or information exchange of
the process be automated?
Identify software and hardware technology that can
be used to automate (parts of) the process. Go
through each step of the process and assess its po-
tential for automation. Identify emerging technologies
and determine where/how these could be integrated
to achieve the same or enhanced value proposition.

Possible characteristics Example application

i Sensors to detect start, IBM Watson Explorer
intermediate, and end gives insurance compa-
events (e.g. tempera- nies recommendations
ture sensors) on whether a claim is
i Activity automation eligible and to what
(e.g. natural language extent the damage
processing, robotic should be covered
process automation)
i Information exchange
(e.g. RFID, NFC)
Two-or-more
Extra card

20

Business Process Design Space

 20

Two-or-more

How can different dimensions

be combined?

Interesting designs can result from the

interplay of different design dimensions.
Take two (or more) random cards and
create a new process design by combining
different characteristics

Card set by Steven Gross

Dimension+
Extra card

21

Business Process Design Space

 21

Dimension+

Can you think of other

design dimensions?

The design dimensions presented here are

generic, meaning they can be defined for all
processes. Try to come up with one or
more specific dimension(s) that fit your
specific application context. Think about
possible characteristics and try to apply
your new dimension(s)
Prioritize
Extra card

22

Business Process Design Space

 22

Prioritize

Which dimensions are (least)

relevant for your purpose?

Not all dimensions are equally relevant in

every context. Maybe some dimensions
cannot be changed due to regulatory re-
quirements while others might be especial-
ly important to consider. Go through all
dimensions and prioritize accordingly