The Pega Express methodology and a microjourney - frequently asked questions

Reach your business goals faster and with greater effect by understanding and implementing the Pega Express methodology while planning your Microjourneys.

What are the key elements of a microjourney?

Your microjourney includes the following key elements:
  • Case types that are reusable templates of your business processes
  • Personas that represent parties that interact with cases through channels
  • Data objects that you need in order to process a case
For example, if your business objective is to review job applications, you can create a Hire a candidate case type, and then associate the following personas with the case type:
  • A job applicant that uses a Job Bot portal
  • A staffing consultant that uses a HR Connect portal
  • A hiring manager that uses a Case Manager portal
Data that you need to process a hiring case might include a candidate's personal details, education, and work experience.

For a holistic understanding of your customers' needs, you can now visualize these three elements on one screen when you design a case type in Case Designer, in App Studio. For more information, see Creating microjourney for customer success.

What do I need to do to start planning my microjourney?

To associate personas and data objects with case types, you need to update your application to support the Pega Express methodology. When you open your existing application, an update prompt pop-up appears. When you create a new application, it already supports planning a microjourney. For more information about the update, see Application update scenarios to support Pega Express methodology.

Do I need to update my built-on applications first?

Yes, you need to update your built-on applications first if they include data objects that your current app uses. If you update your built on-apps first, when you update your current app, it only references the data objects from your built-on apps. When you update your current app first, it creates the data objects that it uses from the built-on apps. If you update your built on-apps later, it duplicates the data objects. As a result, when you start by updating your built-on apps, you save time and resources.

Do I need to update UI Kit or PegaRULES built-on applications as well?

No, because UI Kit and PegaRULES built-on apps do not include any data objects or personas.

How do I prepare for an update?

For an update, you need an unlocked ruleset or you need to enable branch development. Otherwise, you get an error message about no unlocked rulesets or versions and the update fails. For more information, see Rulesets and Setting branch development preferences.

Where can I find the Roles landing page in App Studio?

For greater clarity, two new landing pages replace the Roles landing page: Personas and Access. The Personas page lists all the personas from your application, and the Access page contains a matrix that you use to provide the personas with access to various web channel and pages.

Do the new landing pages affect my existing access configurations?

No. The introduction of the Personas and Access landing pages has no impact on your existing access configurations. After you update your current application, you can view the settings that your application migrates from the Roles landing page.

Does the Personas landing page list all the roles from a previous version of my application?

No, the Personas landing page lists only roles that interact with your application through a channel. When creating personas during an update, your application ignores the development roles that have access to Dev Studio, App Studio, Admin Studio, and Prediction Studio, such as administrator or author.

Does my application create personas for all access groups?

Yes, your application creates personas for all access groups without requiring access to the development portals, such as Dev Studio.

What happens to my data types after an update?

After you update your application, your data types persist and change into data objects. If your framework and implementation applications have data types with the same labels, and you enable branch development, merge the branch to your framework app first before you upgrade your implementation app. Otherwise, the system fails to create data objects for the implementation application.

When I create a new app, which elements of a microjourney does it include?

When you create a new application without built-on apps, your new application includes:
  • Two default personas, Users and Managers
  • No data objects
  • Four default releases
When you create a new application with built-on apps, your new application includes:
  • Data objects that your applications references from built-on apps.
  • Personas that your application references from built-on apps. The included Personas are specific to the current application.
  • Personas that your application creates from access groups in the built-on apps. Your application ignores the access groups that have access to the development portals, such as Dev Studio.
  • Relationships between personas and web channels that your application references from the built-on apps.
  • Four default releases.