Object-centric event-data imperfection patterns

The field of process mining offers a range of techniques for evidence-based improvement of business processes. The quality of the process data used, as stored in so-called event logs, is paramount to the reliability and usefulness of the process mining outcomes. Due to the increased uptake, at scale and for more complex types of applications, the field of process mining has evolved and event logs now need to be object-centric rather than event-centric. To understand and manage the quality problems that can occur in object-centric event logs a systematic approach is required that is different from past investigations into event-centric logs. To this end, we adopt a pattern-based approach, a tried and tested method to characterise problems that are otherwise hard to capture. A new collection of patterns is presented for object-centric logs, where each pattern captures the nature of the problem, how its manifestation can be detected, and how the problem can be remedied. The pattern collection is validated through a multi-prong approach, i.e., evidence-based, literature-based, empirical, and user-based (with the process mining community). The results show that these patterns are perceived as important to identify and that they do occur in practical settings.