Process Discovery Vs. Process Mining: What's The Difference?

What is the difference between Process Discovery and Process Mining and when you should use each strategy

When organizations set out to improve operational efficiency or prepare for transformation, they often turn to tools like process discovery and process mining. These terms are frequently used interchangeably—but they aren’t the same.

In this post, we’ll break down the key differences between process discovery and process mining, explore when to use each, and highlight a major blind spot that organizations should be aware of when relying on traditional process mining tools.

🔗 If you're new to this topic, check out our Ultimate Guide to Process Discovery and Mapping for a full step-by-step breakdown.

🔍 What Is Process Discovery?

Process discovery is the practice of identifying and documenting how work actually happens inside an organization. This includes both formal process steps and informal behaviors, such as workarounds, manual handoffs, and decision-making shortcuts.

It’s especially useful when:

• Processes aren’t documented or standardized
• Multiple systems, tools, and people are involved
• You need to uncover gaps, inefficiencies, or friction points
• You’re preparing for automation or transformation

Modern solutions like ClearWork automate the process discovery effort by capturing real-time user activity across applications and enriching it with natural language feedback from employees. This results in rich visual maps, SOPs, and requirements grounded in reality—not assumptions.

⚙️ What Is Process Mining?

Process mining is a data analytics technique used to reconstruct and analyze how digital processes unfold based on event logs from enterprise systems like ERP, CRM, or HR platforms.

Core capabilities include:

• Analyzing digital trace data (timestamps, case IDs, actions)
• Creating process models from system logs
• Detecting bottlenecks, deviations, and delays
• Comparing actual workflows against defined SOPs
• Measuring process performance (cycle time, throughput, etc.)

It’s particularly effective in highly digitized, structured workflows like procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, or IT ticket resolution—where most of the process takes place within a single system.

⚠️ Downfalls of Process Mining

While process mining offers powerful insight into how data flows through systems, it leaves out a critical piece of the transformation puzzle: the human experience.

Here are key limitations:

1. No Insight Into User Behavior

Process mining shows what happened in the system, but not what the user experienced leading up to, during, or after that step. It can’t see:

• The 8 tabs a user clicks through to enter data
• The workaround they use when the system doesn’t support a real-world scenario
• The delays caused by confusion or lack of clarity

2. Blind to Multi-System Workflows

Most work doesn’t happen in a single system anymore. A sales rep may jump between Salesforce, Gmail, Notion, and Excel. Process mining won’t capture activity that happens outside the core system where logs are generated.

3. Misses Contextual Friction

Process mining can show that something took too long—but not why. It doesn’t capture user frustration, missteps, or repeated tasks that don’t leave a digital footprint in system logs.

4. Limited for Non-Standardized or Manual Work

In many departments (e.g., HR, procurement, customer service), work happens through conversations, spreadsheets, browser apps, or ad-hoc actions. These don’t generate the structured logs process mining tools rely on.

Most process mining tools fail to capture the full scope of human-driven processes in hybrid digital environments.

🧭 Quick Comparison: Process Discovery vs. Process Mining

Final Thoughts

If you’re relying only on process mining, you’re seeing the “what”—but not the “how” or “why.” You may know where delays occur, but not what’s causing them. To design effective transformation strategies, you need visibility into both system execution and human behavior.

✅ Process discovery fills that gap—providing the ground truth of how work actually gets done across apps, teams, and workflows.

👉 Want to move beyond logs and start understanding what’s really happening in your organization? Contact us to see how ClearWork gives you full visibility into real user workflows—without the guesswork.

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