Elsevier

Information Systems

Volume 37, Issue 3, May 2012, Pages 213-226
Information Systems

“Modeling with tools is easier, believe me”—The effects of tool functionality on modeling grammar usage beliefs

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2011.10.007Get rights and content

Abstract

Increasingly, studies are reported that examine how conceptual modeling is conducted in practice. Yet, typically the studies to date have examined in isolation how modeling grammars can be, or are, used to develop models of information systems or organizational processes, without considering that such modeling is typically done by means of a modeling tool that extends the modeling functionality offered by a grammar through complementary features. This paper extends the literature by examining how the use of seven different features of modeling tools affects usage beliefs users develop when using modeling grammars for process modeling. We show that five distinct tool features positively affect usefulness, ease of use and satisfaction beliefs of users. We offer a number of interpretations about the findings. We also describe how the results inform decisions of relevance to developers of modeling tools as well as managers in charge for making modeling-related investment decisions.

Highlights

► We examine modeling tool functionality offered by process modeling tools. ► We show how tool functionality impacts beliefs about process modeling grammars. ► We identify important criteria for modeling tool investment decisions. ► We identify important implications for managing process modeling environments. ► We derive principles for modeling tool use in process modeling projects.

Introduction

Information systems (IS) analysts and designers need to have an understanding about the domain in which the system is meant to operate, and the functions it has to perform [43]. To address this task, they often create conceptual models of the relevant business domains the information system is intended to support. These models are created using semi-formal, diagrammatic conceptual modeling grammars that provide graphical constructs and rules how to combine these constructs [68].

Conceptual modeling is an active research area in Information Systems [11]. Related research has examined, for instance, how conceptual modeling grammars are capable of creating models that provide a faithful representation of some real world domain [62], how a specific conceptual model provides a faithful representation of a real world domain [51], or, more generally, how the quality of conceptual models can be managed [47].

Recently, research has started to examine how conceptual modeling grammars are used in practice. It was shown, for instance, that direct utility beliefs (such as ease of use, usefulness and satisfaction) are key determinants of users' decisions to continue to use a modeling grammar [54]. It was also shown that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of a modeling grammar are dependent on their ontological properties; viz., their levels of construct deficit, redundancy, overload and excess [61]. Other studies have examined, for example, different usage patterns of conceptual modeling grammars [20], [72].

Our interest in this paper is to extend the current body of knowledge about grammar usage beliefs in conceptual modeling. Research to date has examined how models are created using grammars or methods (e.g., [67]), how the models are understood [51] or used in a variety of settings [1], [50]. Yet, the usage of these modeling artifacts has typically been studied in isolation, i.e., decoupled from the modeling environment in which modeling is conducted.

Specifically, most studies that examined the use of modeling grammars have not explicitly considered that these grammars are typically implemented, and used, within a modeling tool. These tools have become very sophisticated and provide extended functionality to support the way grammars can be deployed. For instance, some tools provide model repositories in which models can be stored and cross-linked on different levels of conceptual abstraction [41]. Also, most tools offer a variety of grammars to use for conceptual modeling, which, in turn, enables users to overcome any type of deficiency they might encountered in any given grammar [31]. Finally, more recently, tools have emerged that provide collaboration support for modeling, for instance, through advanced visualization features [7].

Our primary conjecture is, therefore, that modeling tools impact the way that modeling grammars are used by analysts. How exactly modeling tools affect usage of modeling grammars, however, is still unclear. Moreover, it remains unclear which modeling tool functionality specifically affects the way that grammars are used.

In this paper, therefore, we report on research we undertook to examine the effects of seven types of tool functionality on three key grammar usage beliefs. We draw on data collected as part of a large field study [54], [55], [56] of users of the Business Process Modeling (BPMN) grammar [6], the current industry standard in process-aware modeling of information systems; and examine the data collected with a specific focus on the reported tool functionality in use by BPMN modelers. We proceed as follows. We review relevant literature about modeling tools and previous findings about key grammar usage beliefs. Then, we report on our data collection efforts, before presenting the results of our study. We provide a discussion of implications of the findings, and conclude the paper with a summary of its contributions and limitations.

Section snippets

Prior work

In deciding how to model a real-world domain, the decision of the type of grammar to be used for conceptual modeling is an important consideration. The offset of modeling constructs and the related grammar rules define the world view of that grammar and thus specifies the limits of what can be modeled with a given grammar [33]. The type of grammar used for conceptual modeling (e.g., data-oriented, object-oriented or process-oriented) defines the language and its grammatical rules that can be

Research approach

To gather data to examine the relative influence of tool functionality on modeling grammar usage beliefs, we consider empirical data gathered through a survey as part of a large field study of adopters of the process modeling grammar BPMN [6]. We selected the survey research method because it facilitates rigorous hypothesis testing through a sample size bigger than, for example, case studies [25]. Also, survey research has the potential to produce generalizable results that can be applied to

Descriptive statistics

After data inspection and cleansing, we obtained 528 usable responses in total. The geographic distribution of respondents mirrored the general distribution of process practitioners worldwide [71]. Almost 60% of respondents worked for private sector companies, with more than 40% of respondents working in large organizations with more than 1000 employees, and 22.7% and 26.8% of respondents working for mid-sized and small-sized organizations, respectively. The size of the process modeling team,

Discussion

We believe the results obtained from our quantitative and qualitative analysis permit a number of interesting interpretations. Table 7 summarizes our insights from our quantitative analysis and displays the directionality (Dir.—positive or negative) and significance (Sig.) of effects of the use of the seven types of tool functionality (TF1-7) considered on the dependent variables (DV) of interest (PU, PEOU and SAT).

Based on these results, in general, it would appear that tool functionality can

Implications

Our qualitative and quantitative analyses of tool features in the process of using a process modeling grammar suggest a rich set of implications that pertain directly to process modeling practice. On the forefront, our research is the first to explore and statistically confirm the impact of modeling tools and their functionalities on the process of creating models by using dedicated process modeling grammars. The relevance of tools to modeling processes has been a well-known but hitherto

Contributions

In this paper we reported on an empirical study carried out to examine how the use of functionality offered by state-of-the art process modeling tools influences key usage beliefs about the grammars analysts employ for modeling. Our work presents an important extension of existing literature about grammar usage beliefs [61] and continued usage intentions [54] by demonstrating how features of a tool environment influence grammar usage beliefs. We showed that specific tool functionality can

Acknowledgments

Parts of this research were funded by a grant from the Australian Research Council (LP110100252). I would also like to thank Michael Rosemann, Peter Green and Marta Indulska who assisted in the preparation of the study.

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