Fundamentals
Collaboration & UX
Design human-in-the-loop workflows with layouts, approvals, notifications, and role-based access
Collaboration in Elementum enables human oversight and decision-making within automated workflows. Configure role-based interfaces, approval chains, and notification systems to maintain accountability while preserving automation benefits.
Building Blocks
Layouts & Views
Configure tables, timelines, and cards to present the right information for each role.
Forms
Capture structured inputs with validations, conditionals, and dynamic defaults.
Approvals
Define approval chains with thresholds, parallel steps, and escalation policies.
Notifications
Keep stakeholders informed via in-app, email, and chat channels; respect SLAs.
Roles & Permissions
Control who can see and change data with fine-grained access rules.
Activity & Audit
Track history, comments, and changes for compliance and collaboration.
Implementation Patterns
Assignment & Handoffs
Assignment & Handoffs
Configure assignment rules to route work based on user skills, workload, or business priority. Create role-specific views that highlight pending tasks and next actions.Example: Route expense reports over 1000 to team leads, with automatic escalation after 48 hours.
Approval Workflows
Approval Workflows
Design approval chains with conditional logic—parallel approvals for speed, sequential for hierarchy. Include timeout handling and automatic escalation paths.Technical: Use threshold conditions, parallel/sequential routing, and scheduled triggers for deadline management.
Self-Service Portals
Self-Service Portals
Build intake forms with conditional fields, real-time validation, and status tracking. Provide users visibility into request progress without requiring admin access.Components: Dynamic forms, status dashboards, automated notifications, and role-based data access.
Global Collaboration
Global Collaboration
Implement field-level translations and locale-aware formatting for date, currency, and number fields. Configure notification timing for different time zones.Configuration: Translation keys, locale settings, and timezone-aware scheduling rules.
Design Principles
- Clarity: Make next actions obvious with clear buttons, status indicators, and task assignments
- Progressive disclosure: Show essential information first, detailed data on demand to reduce cognitive load
- Least privilege: Grant minimal access by default, use approval workflows to elevate permissions when needed
- Feedback loops: Send notifications with specific actions required, not just status updates
Implementation tip: Use conditional field visibility and role-based layouts to present only relevant information to each user type.
Technical Implementation
Role-Based Access Control
Role-Based Access Control
Configure permissions at the field, record, and app level. Use role hierarchies to inherit permissions and override specific access rules where needed.Best practices: Start with restrictive defaults, grant access incrementally, and regularly audit permission assignments.
Notification Configuration
Notification Configuration
Set up notification rules with conditional triggers, recipient filtering, and delivery preferences (email, in-app, webhook). Include rate limiting to prevent spam.Technical considerations: Template variables, escalation chains, and delivery failure handling.
Form Validation & UX
Form Validation & UX
Implement client-side validation for immediate feedback and server-side validation for security. Use conditional field logic to guide users through complex forms.Components: Required field indicators, error messaging, progress indicators, and save/resume functionality.
Performance consideration: Complex approval workflows with many parallel paths can impact system performance. Design with reasonable limits and consider async processing for high-volume scenarios.
Next Steps
Layouts
Learn how to build role-based views and dashboards.
Form Builder
Build dynamic forms with validations and conditional logic.
Approvals
Configure approval chains, thresholds, and escalations.
Automations
Connect collaboration steps to event-driven rules and escalations.
Core Concepts
See how Collaboration & UX fit with Apps, Elements, Automations, and AI.