Ontology-Driven Application Builder for Flexible, Maintainable Workflows
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing workflow applications are either highly customized and expensive to build, requiring technical expertise and high maintenance costs, or they lack flexibility and customization when using builder software, leading to non-optimal user experiences and difficulty in maintaining and updating workflows across multiple entities.
Innovation Solution
An object-centric builder software that integrates an ontology to design and configure workflow applications, providing a data model for stored data, allowing for the creation of customizable, flexible, and easily maintainable workflow applications by leveraging ontology knowledge for data structure and relationships, enabling modular widgets and dynamic user interfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If workflow applications are built from scratch with high customization, then user experience and functionality are improved, but development cost, technical expertise requirement, and maintenance cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments workflow applications into reusable components including widgets, data models, and ontology definitions. These modular components can be independently developed, configured, and maintained, reducing overall system complexity while preserving customization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements universal builder software that can generate multiple different workflow applications across various entities. The same platform and component library serve multiple purposes, reducing development complexity and maintenance burden while maintaining high adaptability through configuration rather than code changes.
2Ease of manufacture
If builder software is used to simplify workflow application creation, then development time and technical expertise requirement are reduced, but flexibility and customization capability are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The builder software is designed to be dynamic and configurable, allowing the set of available components and their properties to be extended and modified. This enables the system to adapt to diverse workflow requirements while maintaining ease of use through a standardized interface and configuration approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an ontology as an intermediary layer between the builder software and the final workflow application. The ontology provides a structured data model that bridges the gap between simplified builder interfaces and complex customization needs, enabling flexible data representation while maintaining ease of application creation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If highly customized workflow applications are built, then specific workflow needs are met, but ongoing maintenance and updates become more expensive and difficult
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting workflow applications into independent, reusable components with clear interfaces, the system enables targeted maintenance and updates. Individual widgets or data models can be modified without affecting the entire application, reducing maintenance complexity and cost while preserving workflow specificity.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple workflow applications are built for different entities, then diverse workflow needs are addressed, but development time and resources multiply
Solution Approach 1:
The builder software is designed as a universal platform that can generate workflow applications for multiple different entities using a common component library and configuration system. This eliminates the need to build each application from scratch, significantly improving development efficiency while maintaining the ability to address diverse workflow needs through configuration and component selection.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, techniques, and user interfaces are disclosed for an object-centric builder software that can utilize an ontology to design, configure, and build a workflow application that also references the ontology to perform a workflow. The ontology may serve as a data model for stored data associated with the particular workflow. The builder software may leverage the ontology to obtain advance knowledge of the availability and structure of the stored data that will be accessible to the workflow application at run-time, in order to build a workflow application that is well-tailored for that particular workflow. This approach may also result in flexible workflow applications that are easily built and maintained.