Allow Users to Correct Input and Re-Submit After Exit Validation Failure

We would like to raise a usability concern regarding the behavior of Exit Validations in workflow activities within the new PEM experience.

Current Scenario

Consider the following workflow design:

1. A Sponsor Task contains a form with an input field.
2. The user enters a value into the input field.
3. An API Activity consumes that value and performs validation or business processing.
4. Based on the API response, an Exit Validation is configured.
5. If the validation fails, an error message is displayed to the user.

From a business process perspective, this is a very common pattern used for:

• Customer validation
• Employee verification
• Contract checks
• Account lookups
• Business rule validation
• External system validation
• Reference data verification

Current Issue

When the exit validation fails, the sponsor user correctly sees the validation error message. However, the sponsor user is not able to immediately correct the form input and retry.

Instead, the user is required to:

• Close or exit the task.
• Reopen the task.
• Navigate back to the form.
• Re-enter or modify the value.
• Submit the task again.

This creates an unnecessarily complex and frustrating user experience.

Expected Behavior

When an exit validation fails, the system should treat it as a correctable user input issue rather than a task completion failure.

The user should be able to:

1. View the validation error message.
2. Go Back to  Previous Form where data was provided
3. Modify the relevant field(s).
4. Resubmit the task immediately.

This creates a natural validation and correction cycle that users are familiar with across most modern applications.

Example

A user enters:

Customer ID = 12345

The API validates the customer and returns:

Customer ID not found.

The exit validation correctly displays:

Invalid Customer ID. Please enter a valid value.

At this point, the most logical user action is to simply update the Customer ID and try again.

Instead, the current implementation forces the user to reopen the task before making the correction.

Comparison with Previous PEM Experience

In the previous PEM experience, the process was much simpler and more intuitive.

When validation failed:

• The user can click Previous/Back and go to the Form
• The user could immediately modify the input value.
• The user could resubmit without reopening the task.

This approach aligned with standard application behavior and significantly reduced user effort.

The current experience appears to be a regression in usability compared to the previous PEM.

Business Impact

This issue affects both user productivity and overall process efficiency.

Increased User Effort

Simple corrections require multiple additional steps that should not be necessary.

Poor User Experience

Users become frustrated when a validation error does not allow immediate correction.

Increased Training Requirements

Users need to learn non-intuitive workarounds such as reopening tasks after validation failures.

Higher Support Volume

Users may perceive the task as locked, broken, or completed incorrectly and raise support tickets.

Reduced Adoption

Business users expect validation failures to be easily correctable. The current behavior can reduce confidence in the platform and make workflows feel unnecessarily complex.

Impact on Real-World Implementations

Many enterprise workflows rely heavily on API-based validations.

Examples include:

• Employee onboarding
• Vendor onboarding
• Customer registration
• Financial approval processes
• Access management workflows
• Master data validations

In such implementations, validation failures are expected as part of normal business operations. Users frequently need to correct and resubmit information.

Forcing users to reopen tasks each time a validation fails can significantly increase the number of clicks and overall effort required to complete a process.