A Navigation Metaphor to Support Mobile Workflow Systems

Mobile devices have enabled the development of a new breed of enterprise solutions. Oracle, SAP, IBM, and others are offering mobile clients (e.g. ERP, BI, CRM) for iPhone and Android devices. Nonetheless, in the field of workflow management systems (WfMS) the progresses do not support well mobile workers. In this paper we explore how metaphors can be used to drive the development of mobile workflow systems. Our approach relies on the use of the TomTom metaphor to establish an isomorphism between car navigation systems and WfMS. Based on the isomorphism, we used the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to provide a first validation of the approach. The positive results led us to implement an early prototype to be used as a proof of concept and to identify important requirements such as context information.