Facilitating the comprehension of business process models for unexperienced modelers using token-based animations

Process models are structured representations of workflows in an organization that provide a powerful tool for facilitating communication and process redesign or improvement. Model comprehension is challenging for beginning modelers. This study scrutinizes the effect of token-animated process models on novice modelers' comprehension in an experiment with 229 participants. The study is grounded in the theory of distributed cognition as well as other cognition theories. The results confirm the significant impact of token-animated models on comprehension. Several individual characteristics were found to be important as well. Given that the animations were well accepted, token animation can be considered a resourceful technique for pragmatic and educational purposes.