What Questions Can I Ask? A Taxonomy and Question Catalog for Process Mining Analysis Questions

Abstract Analysts play a critical role in examining and interpreting data in process mining projects. However, specific goals for such projects are not always clearly stated nor translated into concrete analysis questions, hindering analysts to derive analysis results effectively. To address this issue, the authors in this work follow an established method for taxonomy design in information system research and propose a categorization schema for the key components of process mining analysis questions. The authors collect a diverse set of such questions by conducting a review of analysis reports and a survey with practitioners and by gathering input from a tool vendor. The resulting taxonomy classifies analysis questions along six dimensions: Use case, perspective, primary goal, cognitive step, context, and data level, each with distinct categories and sub-categories. Additionally, the categorized set of the 405 collected analysis questions forms a question catalog. The taxonomy and question catalog are evaluated through interviews, illustrative scenarios, a case study with two organizations that applied them for question design, and a survey with students. The evaluations confirm the applicability of the taxonomy for question categorization and question design. Both contributions empower users to effectively describe, compare, and assess analysis questions and design new questions.