Design an automated process

Transform an example manual business process into a well-designed, automated process that runs on the ServiceNow AI Platform®.

Before you begin

• Enable the Process Automation Designer for App Engine [com.glide.pad.license] plugin with a subscription to the ServiceNow AI Platform App Engine. For more information, see Activate playbooks.
• Follow the steps to Configure a Playbook user experience.
• Ensure that your current application is set to Global. For more information, see Application picker.
• Role required: admin or playbook.admin

About this task

In the following procedure, you can step through an example of how to digitize a manual business process on the ServiceNow AI Platform using Playbooks in Workflow Studio. In this example, you can use Playbooks to standardize and automate how Service Desk agents handle chat interactions with VIP users.

The manual business process for this example consists of the following stages:

1. Identify and Log: A Service Desk agent learns of an issue that a VIP user is facing while chatting with the user in a messaging application. The Service Desk agent creates an interaction record to track this issue.
2. Classify and Diagnose: The Service Desk agent associates an incident record with the interaction and sets the incident's priority to High. The agent then enters the Assigned To user for the incident.
3. Communicate Work in Progress: The assignee updates the incident record's state to Work in Progress and emails the VIP user when progress is made on the incident.
4. Resolve: When the incident is resolved, the assignee emails the resolution information to the VIP user.

Procedure

1. Create a playbook named Handle Interactions with VIPs.
   1. Navigate to Process Automation > Workflow Studio > Playbooks.
   2. In the main header, click Create a new process.
   3. On the form, fill in the fields.

      Field	Action
      Label	Enter Handle Interactions with VIPs.
      Description	Enter This process defines how Service Desk agents can handle interaction records that are created for VIP users.
      Application	Select Global.

   4. Click Select a trigger.
   5. Click the Define your own trigger conditions for when your process runs option.
   6. From the list of trigger options, select Record Create.
   7. Click Set your trigger conditions.
   8. In the Table list, select Interaction [interaction].
   9. Use the condition builder to add the following condition to your trigger:
      [Opened for->VIP] [is] [True].
   10. Click Go to Designer.
   The Playbooks design environment appears.
2. Add a stage for each stage in your process.
   1. Click + Add stage to add the first stage to your process.
   2. In the stage properties panel's Label field, enter Classify and Diagnose.
      Note:

      Because the Identify and Log stage triggers this process, don't add it as a stage.
   3. In the Description field, enter Associate an incident with the interaction.
   4. In the When to start field, leave Immediately selected, and then click Save.
   5. Click + Add stage to add another stage to your process.
   6. In the stage side panel's Label field, enter Communicate Work in Progress.
   7. In the Description field, enter Notify VIP of work in progress.
   8. In the When to start field, leave After Previous selected, and then click Save.
   9. Click + Add stage to add the final stage to your process.
   10. In the stage side panel's Label field, enter Resolve.
   11. In the Description field, enter Resolve incident and share resolution details.
   12. In the When to start field, leave After Previous selected, and then click Save.
3. Add the Create incident from interaction activity to the Classify and Diagnose stage.
   1. Under the Classify and Diagnose stage, click + Add an activity.
   2. In the activity picker, select Common Activities, and then select Automated Create Record under Non-Interactive.
   3. In the activity properties panel's Label field, enter Create incident from interaction.
   4. In the When to start field, leave Immediately selected, and then click Save.
   5. Click the Create incident from interaction activity card.
   6. In the activity properties panel, click Configure activity.
   7. On the Configure your activity screen, locate the Variables section under Inputs.
   8. In the Table Name list, select Incident [incident].
   9. From the Fields list, select Assigned To.
   10. Next to the Assigned To field, select the data pill picker icon ().
   11. Dot-walk to the Interaction record's Assigned To field by selecting Context > Input Record - interaction > Assigned To.
   12. In the Fields list, select Impact and then select 2 - Moderate.
   13. Under Fields, select Urgency and then select 1 - High.
   14. In the Fields list, select Short Description.
   15. Dot-walk to the Interaction record's Short description field by selecting Context > Input Record - interaction > Short Description.
   16. In the Fields list, select Caller.
   17. Dot-walk to the Interaction record's Opened for field by selecting Context > Input Record - interaction > Opened for.
   18. In the Wait for user input field, leave No selected.
   19. In the Fields to show after creation field, enter priority.
   20. Click Update to finish updating the inputs for the activity.
   The Create incident from interaction activity automatically maps the Assigned To and Short Description fields from the interaction record to the incident record when your process runs.
4. Add the Wait for assignee to update activity to the Communicate Work in Progress stage.
   1. Under the Communicate Work in Progress stage, click + Add activity.
   2. In the activity picker, select Common Activities, and then select Wait For Condition under Interactive.
   3. In the activity properties panel's Label field, enter Wait for assignee to update.
   4. In the When to start field, leave Immediately selected, and then click Save.
   5. Click the Wait for assignee to update activity card.
   6. In the activity properties panel, click Configure activity.
   7. On the Configure your activity screen, locate the Variables section under Inputs.
   8. Next to the Record field, select the data pill picker icon ().
   9. Dot-walk to the Create incident from interaction activity's record output by selecting Activities > 1:1 - automated_create_record > Outputs > record.
   10. In the Table list, select Incident [incident].
   11. Use the condition builder to add the following condition to your activity:
       [Updated by] [is] [Activities > 1:1 - automated_create_record > Outputs > record > Assigned to].
   12. Click Update to finish updating the inputs for the activity.
   The Wait for assignee to update activity pauses the process until the Assigned To user for the Incident record updates the record.
5. Add the Send update to VIP activity to the Communicate Work in Progress stage.
   1. Under the Communicate Work in Progress stage, select + Add activity.
   2. In the activity picker, select Common Activities, and then select Instruction under Default.
   3. In the activity properties panel's Label field, enter Send update to VIP.
   4. In the When to start field, leave After Previous selected, and then select Save.
   5. Click the Send update to VIP activity card.
   6. In the activity properties panel, select Configure activity.
   7. On the Configure your activity screen, locate the Variables section under Inputs.
   8. In the Message field, enter Notify the VIP user that work on their issue is in progress.
   9. Leave the Wait for user input field's value as Yes.
   10. Click Update to finish updating the inputs for the activity.
   The Send update to VIP activity prompts the agent to send an email to the VIP user when the assignee for the incident record makes an update.
6. Add the Wait for incident resolution activity to the Resolve stage.
   1. Under the Resolve stage, select + Add activity.
   2. In the activity picker, select Common Activities, and then select Wait For Condition under Interactive.
   3. In the activity properties panel's Label field, enter Wait for incident resolution.
   4. In the When to start field, leave Immediately selected, and then click Save.
   5. Click the Wait for incident resolution activity card.
   6. In the activity properties panel, click Configure activity.
   7. On the Configure your activity screen, locate the Variables section under Inputs.
   8. Next to the Record field, select the data pill picker icon ().
   9. Dot-walk to the Create incident from interaction activity's record output by selecting Activities > 1:1 - automated_create_record > Outputs > record.
   10. In the Table field, select Incident [incident].
   11. Use the condition builder to add the following condition to your activity:
       [State] [is] [Resolved].
   12. Select Update to finish updating the inputs for the activity.
   The Wait for incident resolution activity pauses the process until the Incident's state becomes [Resolved].
7. Add the Share resolution details with VIP activity to the Resolve stage.
   1. Under the Resolve stage, select + Add an activity.
   2. In the activity picker, select Common Activities, and then select Instruction under Default.
   3. In the activity properties panel's Label field, enter Share resolution details with VIP.
   4. In the When to start field, leave After Previous selected, and then click Save.
   5. Click the Share resolution details with VIP activity card.
   6. In the activity properties panel, click Configure activity.
   7. On the Configure your activity screen, locate the Variables section under Inputs.
   8. In the Message field, enter Provide the Resolution Notes from the Incident record in an email to the VIP user.
   9. Leave the Wait for user input field's value as Yes.
   10. Click Update to finish updating the inputs for the activity.
   The Share resolution details with VIP activity prompts the agent to send the issue resolution details to the VIP user.
8. In the main header, click Activate so that your process runs when triggered.
9. View your activated process as a playbook.
   1. Close the Playbooks tab and navigate to Playbook Experience.
   2. In the side menu, click the lists icon ().
   3. In the Lists tab under Interactions, click My Interactions.
   4. In the form header, click New.
   5. On the form, fill in the fields:

      Field	Action
      Type	Select Chat.
      Opened for	Select a VIP user.
      Assigned to	Select a user that can make updates to Incident records.
      Short description	Enter Testing out the Handle Interactions with VIPs playbook.

   6. In the form header, click Save.
   7. In the Contextual side panel, click the playbook icon ().

Result

Your process appears in as a playbook. Here, agents and fulfillers can get a task-oriented view of the automated business process. Agents can step through the activities that you set up to see where the record is in the overall process.