Model-based electronic performance support

Electronic performance support aims to empower stakeholders to accomplish their work tasks accurately, namely adapted to their individual perception of work. In meeting user needs when working on tasks, the quality of work as well as the individual performance are likely to be high. An enabler to achieve these objectives is the adaptation of behavior of interactive applications to individual work processes. User interfaces can be considered process portals reflecting the individual views on the work processes the stakeholders are involved. The development of process portals for electronic performance support requires a task-based and flexible design procedure, with respect to the structure and the dynamics of an organization and its business processes. Focusing on individual user-performance data rather than on purely functional specification of software, process-portal development integrates functional and interactivity specifications. In this paper we show a model-based approach to electronic performance support. The reported approach KnowIt! (Knowledge Integration) allows to structure and (de)compose a business process at hand into system functions and task-based user interaction. Since KnowIt! specifications are executable Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS) prototypes can be generated automatically. Due to its model-based nature KnowIt! is open with respect to several diagrammatic notations for specification, and various interaction facilities. In addition, different perspectives on the development knowledge can be kept consistent throughout the development process.