We just noticed this functionality, where the Reassign button is not available on forms for the initiator, until they re-access the task from their Tasks List. I can replicate this in a simple model with one user input task chained from the start node, reassign permissions set to 'can reassign to anyone'. When you start the process from Actions, only the Save button is visible (even for system admins). If you immediately click Tasks, and load the same task again, from there, the Reassign button appears.
I can't seem to find anything similar on the forum regarding that functionality, and the 19.1 documentation does not note any situations reassign would not appear other than permissions, which are the same in both situations above.
Has anyone else experienced the same issue?
We're currently on Appian 19.1
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I can understand the desire for a more seamless experience, being able to leverage the default behavior for a reassignment.
From Appian's perspective, the reassign behavior is triggered when a task is assigned to a group of people. Any one of them is eligible to accept the task, and once they do they can hand it off to someone else who was eligible or give it back to the entire pool of potential assignees. This didn't happen in the case of a chained activity. Think of it as the process automatically assigning it to a specific person and starting it in the same instant; not a group of people.
It skips the part where you can accept or reassign and kind of presses the accept button for you automatically. In general, it's far more efficient to skip all of that because the intent is almost always one person completing all the forms in that setup. I can see from your use case how it might be interesting addition to the Appian product to let you configure a task to run the default accept / reassign even if you're chained into it, but that's not a feature Appian currently has.
You could recreate the reassign functionality for now. It's not going to be as seamless, but there is also something to be said for having many options for performing the same function. Sort of like how there's a contextual menu and keyboard shortcuts that both copy and paste in Windows. Multiple ways of doing the same thing can add to user experience.
Thanks All - and yes we do have custom reassignments built in where necessary, just confirming product functionality. Appian confirms this is expected behavior due to overriding task assignments with activity chaining, and reassignment permissions do not come along from the process model security settings via the start event. E.g., no one should be able to reassign any chained initial tasks regardless of permissions (including system admin).
docs.appian.com/.../Process_Model_Recipes.html