Forums » Interstage BPM Server
Forcing users to accept a task before making a choice
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Is there a flag that requires users to "Accept" a task before they can make a choice?
If yes then how does this operate. I believe that if the flag is true then the user must first always accept the workitem before they can work on it, right?
Author: Ivar Alexander
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as per my understanding there is an Accepted status for the task, but only purpose of this is, when a user Accepts the task, it becomes inactive for other users in the same role. This user can later decide to Decline and then it becomes active again for others. But restricting users to accept before making choice is not supported by default i believe.
Author: Mukesh
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There actually is no reason to accept the task before completing it, since the task is "automatically" accepted at the time that you complete it.
The question would be: why would ANYONE want to force the user to take two steps to do something, when they could easily do it in one? This is completely backward from a usability perspective. What does the person who is requesting this think they are going to gain with requiring people to take an extra step? Do they think they get extra security? (they don't) Do they think that this will inform others about what the use is doing? (it doesn't) Do they think that this will prevent users from accidentally stepping on each other? (it doesn't) Do they think it annoys people and keeps them from doing too much work? (yes, this it does)
When discussion workflow design, I often encounter people asking for this, but it is usually on the misguided idea that one can force the user to accept the task *early on, before they start doing the work.* This would inform others that the task is being worked on, and prevent duplicate work. However, this has nothing to do with "completing the task". What instead is needed is a way to display part of the task information ONLY if the task is accepted. I don't know if this can be done with the forms, but customers has implemented this sort of thing with their UI.
You will find that there is a broad spectrum of tasks to consider. Some are long term tasks that should be accepted hours or days before completing. But there are also many others that can be completed in a few seconds ... sometimes faster than the page refresh. In many cases, a person will receive a task for something they have already completed. In this case, they recognize the case, and take the action. Forcing them to accept the task in these cases is simply a bother, and adds no value.
If you are consider this capability, please consider more and carefully think through all the use cases, because we found that most people who initially used this, ended up turning it off because it was not really what they wanted.Author: Keith Swenson
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