Data capture in Views
Views are the link between the user interaction with a case and the data that is necessary to resolve that Case. Views control what data the user inputs or selects in the Case. It is important to design Views that capture or display the precise data needed at each Stage to process the Case successfully.
In this topic, you examine aspects of creating and using Views that facilitate Case resolution by using the prescribed Constellation design system.
Constellation's Prescribed Design system
A design system provides a consistent user experience through a systemized collection of design rules and patterns. To make the design work scalable and repeatable, a design system contains a structural framework that contextualizes how designs work with underlying technology and other types of assets, including digital and print. The systemized collection speeds up design and development time and produces better business outcomes by increasing consistency and efficiency in software development.
A design system is a builder kit that includes a shared library of:
- UI elements
- Styles
- UX patterns comprised of components
- Themes
- Guidelines
The Constellation design system allows you to build Pega Platform™ applications quickly and keeps the application easy to update for future releases.
The Constellation design system provides a complete, prescribed presentation layer that includes the information architecture, interactions, accessibility, data visualizations, and more, all supplied and implemented on multiple technologies. It is a complete UX toolkit that meets the needs of large organizations that have case management application use cases.
The Constellation design system follows a prescribed design pattern: a set of informed designs and templates with preset configurations to reduce design time, allowing application developers and designers to create pages and flows that focus on user needs. Constellation offers a complete out-of-the-box front-end library of UX/UI templates, patterns, and components that are specifically designed to optimize views and workflows for complex case management applications.
With Constellation, the core front-end experience (the navigation, workflows, and information architecture) is prescribed but configurable. Pega Business Architects (BAs), Citizen Developers, and System Architects (SAs) configure the Views of the application entirely in App Studio.
Because the layout and core front-end experience are highly prescribed, updates are seamless, applications are consistent, and clients can achieve business value faster. Constellation also offers improvements in out-of-the-box accessibility compliance, including compatibility with screen readers, localization, and more.
Views in Constellation
A View is a component of the UI that gathers data from a user or displays data to the user. Views display the Fields and instructions necessary to complete the user's current Task or Assignment.
For example, a loan application might provide online views with fields for applicants to enter their personal information, loan details, and relevant financial information. The application might provide different views for an internal loan officer, who sees the applicant's information as read-only fields and enters the resulting approval or rejection decision and explanation into editable fields.
Application developers add relevant Fields to the Views. Pega Platform™ stores the name of the Field and the Value of the data element in either local storage or an external system of record, which makes the information reusable. Settings in the View can make the stored data elements available for editing or present the data as read-only.
Considerations for Views
Consider the process for making loans. In this example, there are two steps:
- The first step in the process requires customers to enter information for a loan application. The form contains fields for entering information such as the name of the customer, the loan amount, and the loan type. After customers complete the form, the system sends the request to loan officers for review.
- In the second step of the process, loan officers have a Loan officer view that displays the data collected from the application. Loan officers can read but not update the customer information. The loan officer view also contains fields for officers to enter information such as loan insurance eligibility and whether the application is approved or rejected.
In the center of the following image, slide the vertical line to view the steps of the loan application process:
As a Pega BA who is involved in the application development process, consider the steps required of your users as they progress through the Case Type workflow, and determine the data they need to input or access to perform each task. Then, consider how you can best display that information.
For example, the loan application View must include all the fields that are necessary for customers to complete the loan application. The View must have clear instructions and be easy to navigate. Customers must enter some data, such as the amount of the loan, but some information is selectable, such as the type of loan for which they are interested in applying.
In the following image of the loan application view, click the + icons to learn more about items to consider and questions to ask when you create a View:
Field groups
A field group is a cluster of individual fields that, together, present related data inside a View. The individual fields can come from the Case Type Data model or from various data objects.
Field groups help to organize related fields together under a single header, and provide the tools to add instructions or temporarily hide fields in collapsible sections within a View.
You create field groups inside a View and they are specific to that View only.
Design View for reuse
As a Pega BA involved with designing applications, remember that individual Views are reusable in applications with multiple Case Types. For example, a View that displays information about a retail product Data Object, including fields such as Product name, Description, SKU, and Price, can apply to Views across an array of sales and distribution Case Types for a manufacturing company.
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