A study on the effects of routing symbol design on process model comprehension

Process modeling grammars are used to create models of business processes. In this paper, we discuss how different routing symbol designs affect an individual's ability to comprehend process models. We conduct an experiment with 154 students to ascertain which visual design principles influence process model comprehension. Our findings suggest that design principles related to perceptual discriminability and pop out improve comprehension accuracy. Furthermore, semantic transparency and aesthetic design of symbols lower the perceived difficulty of comprehension. Our results inform important principles about notational design of process modeling grammars and the effective use of process modeling in practice. ► Visual notation design principles influence process model comprehension. ► Perceived pop out of symbols affects process model comprehension. ► Perceived perceptual discriminability of symbols affects process model comprehension. ► Effects of individual perception of the symbol are stronger than the symbol itself.