3304 - How to Build a Better
User Experience with IBM
Coach Views
John Reynolds – IBM
Paul Pacholski - IBM
David Knapp – Apex
Eric Ducos – Emericon
Ivan Kornienko – BP3 Global
© 2014 IBM Corporation
Please Note
IBM’s statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change
or withdrawal without notice at IBM’s sole discretion.
Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general
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The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a
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functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion.
Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM
benchmarks in a controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance
that any user will experience will vary depending upon many factors, including
considerations such as the amount of multiprogramming in the user’s job stream,
the I/O configuration, the storage configuration, and the workload processed.
Therefore, no assurance can be given that an individual user will achieve results
similar to those stated here.
Coach Redbook
2
What are Coaches?
The primary purpose of Coaches is to enable process authors to
create and maintain custom user interfaces that will improve their
users' interactions with their organization's business processes…
which in turn can improve the performance of those business
processes.
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Coaches are BPM User Interfaces
Task Completion
Dashboards
Coaches are Pervasive
Use via custom apps
Embedded in other applications
Available in default BPM UIs
IBM
BPM
Coach
Use via your mobile browser
Coaches support a Partner Ecosystem
Apex Process Consultants
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BP3
EmeriCon
What are Coach Views?
Coach Views are reusable UI building blocks for presenting and
manipulating process data
IBM BPM supplies a core set of Coach Views and tooling for
creating additional Coach Views.
Coach Views are now being created and distributed by IBM, IBM's
business partners and by clients themselves. This ability to create
and distribute additional Coach Views dramatically increases the
power of the Coach Framework.
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Increasing Number of Instances
Coach View Taxonomy
Atomic CV
•
A fundamental CV
– Extension of the Stock CVs)
– New CV (i.e. Image, Google Map)
Data CV
Composite
Template
•
•
Bound to a specific BO
Data entry
Template CV
•
Data
•
Composite CV
Atomic
•
•
•
Decreasing Technical Skill Level
IT Developer
(Bruce)
Contains elements that are not
changeable (i.e. banner)
Can add CVs to the Content Box
Business
Programmer
(Bob/Dave)
•
•
Is derived form Template CV
Includes several Data CVs
Immediately reusable in Human
Service with no addition of other CVs
Requires binding variables
Requires customization (exposed
variables must be set)
Atomic Coach Views?
Atomic Coach Views are authored by programmers who have a
deep understanding of HTML, JavaScript and Ajax services. They
often leverage 3rd party JavaScript libraries to provide
sophisticated behaviors.
Most atomic Coach Views are general purpose components that
are designed to be reused across a wide variety of user interfaces.
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Composite Coach Views?
Composite Coach Views are often created when many of the
Coaches of a solution include a common section of user interface
components.
A common header that contains overview information about a
process is an example of a section that is often implemented with a
composite Coach View.
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Presentation and Manipulation of Business Objects
11
Creating Coach Views
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Business Object Coach Views
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Business Data and Configuration Options
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Layout
15
Layout
16
Behavior
17
Load Behavior
18
View Behavior
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Change Behavior
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Lessons from Apex Process Consultants
Apex Coach Views is a library of 90 ready-to-use layouts and
controls designed for business technical users. They enable rich
user experience with the latest dynamic client-side technologies
under the hood and are ideal for both task completion and ad hoc
information management user interfaces.
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Lessons from EmeriCon
BPM UIs (Tasks/Dashboards/etc.) used to be time-consuming
Only partially productive with OTB Coach NG
Used Coach NG's extensibility to get really productive
Focused on:
• Coach Views as UI controls
– Methods, events, properties
– Traditional and uncomplicated UI development
– Aimed at "business" developers – no HTML/CSS/AJAX/Dojo req'd
• Working the same in Coach Views or Coaches directly
• Doing away with clutter (concern for maintainability)
– Coach views, holder business data, glue code, duplications, etc.
• Multi-device targeting (desktop & various mobile devices)
• Solving business problems – (intuitively, no technical
sidetracks)
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Lessons from EmeriCon
Experienced large gains in productivity (3 to 4x faster)
…By exploiting key extensible capabilities of Coach NG
Key Capabilities EmeriCon Deemed Essential
Basic Coach NG
EmeriConVIEWS
Selective control data binding


Easily exploitable client-side control referencing


Basic and extended control event support


Exploitable control getters/setters/methods


Configurable basic & extended control aspects
~

UI Logic resilient to visual composition changes


No need for extra "glue" artifacts & constructs


Control aspects computable w/ Excel-like formulas


Rich client-side logic simple to express and attach


Focus on business logic


Rich & versatile set of UI control
~

High-performance tabular data controls


Mobile capability & responsive behavior
~

Raw customizability/extensibility of controls and behaviors


 Needs work
~ Partially capable OTB
 Fully capable OTB
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Lessons from EmeriCon
…And called it "EmeriConVIEWS"
• Coach NG Enhanced UI Development Model
• 50+ controls (electronic signature, masked text, tables, BPM attachments, classic
form controls, multi-function sections, timers, charts, stylers, dialogs, etc…)
• High-performance components for data display
– Backed by BPM data and AJAX services
• Reporting & data visualization w/ data drill-down
• Fully Mobile-enabled (Coach Views & Mobile clients)
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Lessons from BP3
Brazos is a responsive IBM BPM UI toolkit created by BP3. The
toolkit implementation adapts Bootstrap, one of the most popular
web UI frameworks, to the IBM BPM CoachViews and serves as a
complete replacement for the out of the box controls.
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Lessons from BP3
1. It’s all about the Foundation
… make sure you have the right core control set, it will mean shorter
development cycles, happy end users, and a maintainable solution.
•
•
Brazos has 17 controls in its foundation.
It took hundreds of prototypes and dozens of iterations to determine
what the right foundation was for BPM Solutions.
2. Exploit Open Source
… web design has gone from Antiquity to the Renaissance in the last
4 years. use that to your advantage.
•
•
Brazos uses Bootstrap. Brazos Charts uses NVD3.
BP3s time was spent on the CV framework, performance, best
practices, and design. All specific to BPM solutions and patterns.
3. Don’t forget the Developer
… business analysts can be as effective as technical consultants, in
building UIs, if you give them the right tools.
•
Brazos was made with the non-technical user in mind.
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Lessons from BP3
Brazos. Widely Used. Rich Control Set. Modular and Extensible.
Brazos Charts. Simple Data Model. Many Types.
Both Are. Responsive. Free. Supported by BP3.
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Questions?
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Thank You
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