How do you redesign a form/process from paper to digital workflow?

2 points by Chocolator 4 years ago | 1 comment

Imagine that your company has decided to move to a truly digital workflow. (Not necessarily paper->online but that's the easiest example.) Perhaps it's "let's move the real estate paperwork to the cloud" or "automate the approval process for a corporate project launch, with Legal and Regulatory oversight." Or something simpler.

A lot of processes duplicate ‘the way we’ve always done it’ without rethinking the problem. If I put together a list of useful advice what should be included?

What did you learn the hard way? Or, what tips would you hope to read before you got started on such an endeavor?

stevenalowe 4 years ago |

Strategically

Model the domain with the experts and end-users (e.g. Eventstorming, DDD, UX). Model "as is" and then "could be", and test/prototyle/mock it with actual users as soon and as often as possible. Automating a paper mess yields an automated mess, and misses an opportunity to learn as a group and improve. Including end users helps ensure you're not building a fantasy/nightmare.

Tactically

Model the workflow for the process in question, noting all information currently collected and how (forms, calls, external systems, etc), then work backwards from the outputs to identify unnecessary information and steps