Data that is sourced from backend enterprise systems.
The data is merged dynamically with the correspondence template.
Data that may be supplied by a front-line employee who is
customizing the letter before sending it out.
Pre-approved text content. The text content is typically
authored by Subject Matter Experts in Legal, Finance, or a line
of business who understand the business context of the letter. Content
such as header, footer, disclaimers, and salutation would be common
to most of the letters; however, content such as "reason for termination"
would be specific to the particular letter.
For some letters,
such as a letter to request more information regarding a claim,
business users such as the Claims Adjustor may want to add custom
text content as well.
Images such as logos and signature images. Images such as
corporate logos would appear in most or all of the correspondence,
whereas signature images are specific to the letter and to the person
on whose behalf the letter is sent.
Every correspondence needs to be analyzed to uncover the various
pieces that make up the correspondence. The Application Specialist
analyzes the correspondences that need to be generated. He has several
discussions with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to understand the
business context of each correspondence. For descriptions of the
Application Specialist and SME personas, see
Project team
.
For each correspondence, the Application Specialist needs to
understand:
Which parts of the correspondence are static and which
are dynamic. The variables that need to be filled from backend data
sources. The variables that need to be filled by business users
such as Claims Adjustors.
The order in which the various text paragraphs appear in
the correspondence. Can the paragraphs be changed by a business
user during correspondence creation?
Is the correspondence system-generated or does it require
a Claims Adjustor to edit the correspondence? How many correspondences
are system-generated and how many require user intervention?
How frequently can this correspondence change? Will it be
updated yearly, quarterly, or only when a particular legislation
changes? What type of changes are expected? Is it a change to fix
typographical errors, a layout change, adding more fields, adding
more paragraphs, and so on.
When planning your correspondence requirements, you should have
a list of correspondence templates that need to be created. For
each correspondence template you should plan:
Text clauses and images need to be created
Data values that need to be sourced from backend systems
The layout of the correspondence
The order in which content appears in the letter and rules
for inclusion and exclusion of content
Conditions under which content or portions in the letter
can be modified by business users such as claims adjustors or case
workers.
