Class 6

Automation Design Concepts

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

Class Overview

Why is this important?

We will focus on effective design of automation solutions and review where we are at in terms of implementation of these systems. Communication of what an automation workflow can or cannot do will be an important take-away from this class. We will pause on the building of workflows to cover some important design principles and concepts.

What will we do?

This class will cover automation concepts and their application in building efficient workflows. We will cover choices relating to the level of autonomy in a process, the role of agents versus RPA bots and humans-in-the-loop. Unlike earlier classes, today's class will not work on the tools and software for building automations, but will instead focus on the conceptual design of automation workflows. By the end of this class, you will have a better understanding of how to design an automation workflow that effectively combines RPA bots, agents, and human interaction.

How this relates to other classes:

In prior classes, we have been working on individual automation workflows for a self-identified and directed workflow. In this class, we will work on a conceptual level to identify key design choices for both individual RPA bots and team Agentic workflows.

In this class we will use design principles and concepts to figure out the desired level of automation and use cases for agentic workflows. These principles and concepts will lead how we work on individual RPA and team Agentic projects.

Materials and Preparation

Class Materials
  • Link: Download the Process Automation Tool (an xlsx file).
  • Slides: PowerPoint or PDF
  • Suggested Pre-Class Preparation
    There is no suggested preparation for this class.
  • Class Plan
    1. We will start with a brief review and check-in / feedback on individual submissions. This review will be at a high-level, focusing on the roadblocks I see from the current submissions.
    2. After the review, we will discuss the design principles and concepts for creating effective automation workflows.
    3. I will ask you to complete, and submit a process assessment tool focusing on the design of your automation workflow. This will be a professionalism deliverable that will allow for early feedback on the design of your bot and the opportunity to improve it over the course of the quarter if you choose to pursue this or a similar bot for your individual RPA submission.
    4. I will reintroduce the final project and discuss the expectations for the team-based automation design exercise.
    5. We will also cover concepts relating to Agentic Workflows and the design of these systems, which will be relevant for the team project.
    6. Time-permitting, I will introduce set-up for using open-source solutions, and python, for those who may be interested in developing a bot using open-source tools instead of UiPath (warning, this will be a more challenging, not a less challenging path).