Business process modeling (BPM), collaboration, mobile devices, and usability are the contributing elements in this insightful paper. BPM is important in both decision making and operational effectiveness. Team-based collaborative modeling can improve model quality and increase understanding of the underlying processes. In keeping with the trend toward tablet-based apps in support of corporate computing, the authors consider the use of tablets to collaborate on modeling, with a focus on usability.

The introduction explains the need for collaborative model building and raises the potential for enhanced collaboration via mobile devices (specifically, tablets). Subsequent sections address the research methodology, including the usability factors to be measured, previous results regarding BPM and collaboration, and a survey of touch technologies with a focus on support for collaboration. The fifth section reports on a field study of collaborative BPM using information science students, with an analysis of the results. The authors introduce their design for BPMTouch, a new tablet-based app for BPM, and summarize the contributions of the paper and directions for future research. There are a good number of relevant figures, tables of analyzed results, and 40 references.

The authors make a good case for collaborative BPM via tablets using software designed to enhance operability, satisfaction, effectiveness, efficiency, learnability, understandability, and attractiveness. The prototype presented in the paper shows promise. Follow-up research and broader testing will determine if the prototype is robust enough to enter the BPM mainstream.