The Influence of Syntactic Quality on Pragmatic Quality of Enterprise Process Models

Abstract

Abstract. As approaches and tools for process and enterprise modelling are maturing, these techniques are being taken into use on a large scale in an increasing number of organizations. In this paper we report on the use of process modelling in connection to the quality system of Statoil, a large Norwegian oil company, in particular, on the aspects found necessary to be emphasized to achieve the appropriate quality of the models in this organization. Based on the investigation of usage statistics and user feedback on models, we have identified that there are problems in comprehending some of the models. Some of these models has poorer syntactic quality than the average syntactic quality of models of the same size. An experiment with improving syntactic quality on some of these models has given mixed results, and it appears that certain syntactic errors hinder comprehension more than others.

Metrics to Estimate Model Comprehension Quality: Insights from a Systematic Literature Review

“…There are two primary ideas around this. Firstly (see, e.g., [57]), focusing on the development of a set of terms and shorthand clues within a group of modelers and readers allows establishing quality guidelines to ease comprehension and communication. However, doing so means that model quality is specific to a set of readers and their shared application domain, perhaps at the expense of involving external readers or onboarding new team members.…”

“…[41] propose a method to quantify elements for this purpose, focusing on nodes, edges, and proximity of elements. The work in [55] and [57] looks at edge crossing and arrows and the effect on the overall comprehension. In contrast to approaches that take element proximity into account, these works assert that minimizing crossing lines improves comprehension.…”

Understanding Model Quality Concerns When Using Process Models in an Industrial Company

“…Whereas the requirements given in TR0002 are quite detailed and structured providing guidelines on most quality levels of SEQUAL, they focus mostly on empirical and syntactic quality. Although quality on these levels is also important for pragmatic quality, the guidelines are not always followed [10]. Through the user survey [36], interviews and conversations have provided valuable insights into how users experience the management system.…”

“…Syntactic Quality Issues Although there are many guidelines on this level, there is many examples that these are only partly adhered to, as also will be reported in [10]. Still this was not explicitly mentioned as an issue.…”

A framework for evaluating the quality of modelling languages in MDE environments A framework for evaluating the quality of modelling languages in MDE environments

“…To detect validation procedures for these frameworks, specific publications of the authors about the applicability of the frameworks must be accessed separately. Examples of validation procedures can be found in (Heggset et al, 2015). Some approaches employed in validation are experiments, surveys, interviews, and questionnaires.…”