Ramon Schouten
Currently, in HelloID Service Automation, we have the option “Requesting User Should Approve” in an approval workflow.
When enabled, the requester must approve their own request, even if they submitted it themselves.
In most real-life scenarios, we disable this option to avoid an unnecessary extra approval step when the approver is also the requester.
Current Behavior
When “Requesting User Should Approve” is disabled:
  • No approval email is sent (this works correctly)
However, the approval request still appears inside HelloID:
  • As a notification under the bell icon
  • In the user Inbox
This makes it look like an approval is still pending, even though no action is required.
Why this is confusing
From a workflow perspective, the approval step is skipped.
But from a user interface perspective, users still see an approval request, which causes:
  • Confusion for end users
  • Extra questions and support requests
  • Doubt about whether the workflow is configured correctly
  • Reduced trust in notifications
If something appears in the Inbox or notification bell, users expect it to require action.
Suggested Improvement
When “Requesting User Should Approve” is disabled, the approval request should not:
  • Generate an email
  • Appear in the dashboard notifications
  • Appear in the Inbox
In short: if no approval is required, no approval item should be visible anywhere in the UI.