Work Activity Coordination : It is not just business processes , it is intelligent people too

In this position paper we argue that we lack an adequate modeling approach for the design of modern, integrated information systems. Different technologies are available, but their integrated use leaves the designer with a gap between the global business process view and the local views of the information system applications. The global view concentrates on the business goals, while the local views focus more on the actual data flows. In between these views we can see the office workers: only by exploiting their intelligence a practical office is able to operate. For the design of flexible and effective information systems the gap needs to be bridged. We advocate a model combining an activity-based and a conversation-based paradigm for the design of information systems in which the communication between intelligent office workers plays a pivotal role.