Overview of designing task assistant workflows

There are different styles of task assistant workflows depending on the designer and the workflow processes being defined. Designing task assistant workflows will likely be an iterative process to help the designer understand the objectives and fulfill the requirements of the particular workflow. The designer will frequently switch between designing the workflow using the Designer tab and executing the workflow in the Task Assistant window during the development and review process.

Task assistant workflow style variations can be categorized as one of the following:

• Sequential from beginning to end
• Sequential within containers
• Containers of functionality

Sequential from beginning to end

This procedural style guides users through a series of steps to accomplish a task. A task assistant step should not be executed unless the previous step or steps have been executed and completed, for example, a task assistant workflow that is specific to a particular dataset and output.

Example of a sequential workflow that creates a geodatabase replica

Sequential within containers

This style provides users with functionality to complete a variety of tasks, but within each container, the steps are sequential, for example, a task assistant workflow with different series of steps for creating contours from raster data depending on the number of raster datasets available.

Example of a task assistant workflow with sequential steps in containers

Containers of functionality

This container style is used to capture related or like functionality for ease of use. For example, commands relating to selecting features or navigation can be grouped.

Example of a task assistant workflow with nonsequential steps based on functionality

Combination of these styles

An entire workflow could include a combination of the three styles described above. In addition, multiple workflows can be open in the Task Assistant window, adding an additional level to apply the style options. The following figure shows the combination of grouping like functions and sequencing of steps. Notice the use of EITHER and OR to convey information to the user.