Purpose comes before collection
A workflow study should begin with a specific operational question: why requests miss their service target, where rework enters a process, or which handoff blocks completion. Collect only the evidence needed to answer that question.
Broad activity capture without a defined decision creates risk and weak analysis. Motion is not output, and screen time is not value.
Measure the system around the person
Useful workflow evidence includes queues, tool switching, unclear ownership, duplicate entry, approval delay, exception paths, and demand variability. These factors explain why capable people struggle inside a poorly designed process.
- Tell participants what is being measured and why
- Limit scope and retention
- Preserve human context during review
- Avoid individual rankings from weak proxy metrics
- Test whether the proposed change improves the agreed outcome
Close the loop
Visibility is only justified when it leads to responsible improvement. Share findings, invite correction, select a bounded change, and compare the result with the baseline. If the evidence does not improve a decision, stop collecting it.