Neota Logic is launching a new workflow mapping and automation application builder called Canvas. The graphically-focused ‘point and click’ system will up competition with rivals in the same space such as Autto and Bryter, as interest in no-code, build it yourself workflow toolkits grows across the market.

Canvas is already in Beta testing with members of its client advisory group and will be available for general release on 3 December.

Canvas is described by the company as ‘a web-based product that enables subject matter experts to quickly and effectively turn their expertise into runnable applications’.

Or, another way of putting it is to say it provides users with an intuitive and graphical work space (see explainer video below – strongly recommended as it’s hard to describe workflows without pictures) that allows them to create workflows and build in automation triggers, as and when needed, to processes they routinely handle.

Fundamentally, it’s taking the company’s no-code toolbox into more intuitive ground. One benefit of this is that it should make it easier for professionals to build what they want without needing coding skills.

Rather, the focus is on mapping out a workflow and then using Canvas to turn it into a logic tree, with each node able to be expanded and certain actions synched into that stage in the process, such as asking a question before moving to the next step, or sending off an email that is triggered by completing that stage in the workflow. The main challenge here is for a lawyer to really understand their work processes.

Canvas requires no training and is ‘a logical, intuitive product that allows users to ask questions, apply formulas and rules, and generate output reports or send emails to third parties’, the company added.

Here’s Kim Massana, CEO at Neota Logic, on how he sees things: ‘We’ve spent a lot of time collaborating with our clients to deliver a solution that’s easy to use for all professionals. Creating an application in Canvas couldn’t be easier. Its simple point-and-click interface is as easy as drawing on a whiteboard. Within minutes you can have a functional web application capable of sophisticated reasoning and complex outcomes.’

Is this a big deal? Probably the main point here is that Neota is simply making it easier to use its already well-developed workflow and automation technology. It has leveraged the benefits of a more visual approach and by doing that should – it’s hoped – appeal to a wider audience.

The move comes at a time when there are now several companies also making use of graphical workflow interfaces, which allow firms and legal functions to build specific products for their use without the need to buy into a large and complex all-in-one platform (see story last week).

While larger law firms have IT and innovation teams of sufficient size to hand-build from scratch specific point solutions that they want to use, for many others they simply don’t have enough professional resource to do that. Most inhouse functions would also struggle to build an internal workflow automation app totally from scratch. So this, and others in the market, may fill that gap.

Check out the explainer video below for more info.