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Former Member
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This is my first SDN post on the topic of User Experience (Ux) design for NetWeaver tools. It's great to be here.  I am a User Interface Architect on the SAP NetWeaver Ux team in Walldorf, Germany. I currently focus on how modeling plays a role in the development of composite applications. I am especially interested in when and how different types of users participate in the modeling of business processes as a part of building composites. By utilizing a user centered design (UCD) approach, the plan is to gather input from a diverse set of target users to help drive our design thinking in this area. This will ensure that our tools will fit well with and support the work of users in the "real world". More on the topic of SAP's UCD process can be found here: http://www.sapdesignguild.org/resources/ucd_process.asp.  This post is an effort to find users with experience modeling business processes wiling to participate in research activities focused on the area of modeling as it pertains to the development of composite applications. If you’re interested in participating in our research, please contact me directly here: jonathan.gordon@sap.com  Here’s some background.  Until recently, end users of business software found themselves frequently constrained by application boundaries when conducting their daily work. The functions and data they needed to accomplish routine tasks often resided in multiple systems, necessitating additional expenditures of effort and time. As a result, users were compelled to adapt their work to the software, instead of the other way around. Application functionality did not fit well with business processes. At the same time it was difficult, if not impossible, for the development organization to react efficiently and solve the issue with necessary enhancements.  A gap was created between how business users worked and what development organizations delivered.  Advances in software development, however, now allow for functionality from existing applications to be more readily and easily combined in the creation of new applications that better integrate with real world business processes. Referred to as composite applications, this new type of software is built on a service-oriented architecture (SOA) that exposes existing as well as new application functionality as standardized services. Within a composite application landscape, parts from disparate business systems can be combined within a unified user interface that is tailored to the specific needs of users and based on the way they work. This enables more flexible application usage scenarios, allowing users to more easily cross organizational and functional boundaries in ways that fit the dynamic nature of their work.  This new application model requires fundamental changes in the way business software is developed. Adaptive business processes move to the center of focus of development, with the needs of individual users firmly in mind. Software development of this nature, however, requires ongoing dialog and collaboration with end users so that applications support both business processes and the ever changing real world of the business user.   Powerful composite application modeling tools alone do not guarantee a perfect fit with end user needs. Without meaningful user involvement at design time, business applications can still become disconnected from the context within which they are used. As a result, the gap between user needs and application functionality can be perpetuated--and perhaps even widened.  What is needed to bridge the gap are “business user enabled” composite application modeling tools that allow users to participate in a more meaningful way in the development of “their” applications.  OK. Off the soap box. Until next time.  Jonathan
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