Definition
Automate workflows with approval gates, exception paths, and audit-ready evidence artifacts. Reduce rework without losing control.
Impact
Results teams are seeing
Fewer retries
via explicit exception paths
Stop rework loops
Clear gates
by threshold and role
SoD-friendly
Evidence
captured automatically
Not reconstructed
Capabilities
What you can do with Process Designer
Approval gates as a workflow primitive
Approvals aren’t an add-on: they are modeled steps with policy context, thresholds, and audit trails.
Exception paths that match reality
Define what happens when data is missing, policies conflict, or risk thresholds are exceeded—without sending work to Slack.
Evidence artifacts you can query
Every decision produces structured records you can aggregate: who approved, why, and what evidence was attached.
HEIDI prompts decisions consistently
Teams don’t need to remember edge cases—HEIDI guides runs, prompts for approvals, and captures rationale.
How it works
From chaos to clarity in 4 steps
Design your happy path
Model the baseline steps and required inputs.
Add gates
Define thresholds and who can approve each decision.
Add exception paths
Model the top 5 exceptions that cause rework today.
Define evidence artifacts
What proof must exist at each gate (records + attachments)?
Run + measure
Track evidence completeness and drift signals to improve.
Avoid these
Common mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Sending exceptions to chat
You lose auditability and create invisible queues.
Model exception paths with owners and evidence requirements.
Using screenshots as the only proof
Screenshots don’t scale as structured evidence.
Capture structured evidence records and attach supporting proof when needed.
Evidence artifacts: a practical schema
If you can’t query proof, you can’t scale compliance.
Define evidence artifacts as objects, not attachments:
| Artifact | Example fields | Produced when |
|---|---|---|
| approval_record | approver_id, role, timestamp, policy_ref, decision, rationale | approval gate |
| exception_record | exception_code, owner, timestamp, mitigation, linked_approval | exception path |
| version_log | workflow_version, changed_by, reason, impact_summary | publish/update |
| evidence_attachment | uri, checksum, classification, timestamp | capture proof |
This makes audits and dashboards queries, not archaeology.
Starter templates (high-impact workflows)
- Access requests (privileged approvals + evidence)
- Refunds and exception handling
- Month-end close (threshold approvals + evidence ledger)
- Incident response (DORA-style evidence trails)