Activity Diagram

Business Process and Functional Modeling involves representing the activities within a business process, often with activity diagrams.

Key Concepts

• Business Processes: Consist of a series of activities that are performed to achieve specific business goals.

• Activity Diagrams:

  • Depict the sequence of activities within a process.
  • Derived from Use Case Diagram
  • Are abstract, meaning they describe processes generally, without focusing on specific implementation details.
  • Has a standardized Activity Diagram Symbols
  • Model behavior independently of the objects or systems involved.
  • Can be applied to model any type of process, whether business-related or not.

These diagrams help in understanding and optimizing workflows by visually representing how tasks flow through a process.

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Guidelines for Activity Diagrams

1. Set the Scope of the Activity Being Modeled

• Clearly define the boundaries of the process.
• Understand the start and end points of the activity being diagrammed.

2. Identify the Activities and Connect Them with Flows

• Break down the business process into distinct activities or tasks.
• Use arrows to connect activities, showing the flow of control.

3. Identify Any Decisions That Must Be Made

• Highlight decision points where a choice is needed using decision nodes (diamond shape).
• Define the outcomes for each decision to show different paths.

4. Identify Potential Parallelism in the Process

• Look for activities that can happen simultaneously.
• Use fork and join nodes to represent parallel processes.

5. Draw the Activity Diagram

• Create the final diagram, ensuring that the flow of activities is clear.
• Use symbols like action nodes, start/end nodes, fork/join nodes, and decision/merge nodes.

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Creating an Activity Diagram

1. Choose a Business Process Identified Previously

• Select a business process to model, based on the use-case and requirements definition.

2. Review the Requirements Definition and Use-Case Diagram

• Ensure the activities align with the documented requirements and use-cases.

3. Review Other Documentation Collected

• Look through existing documentation to identify any additional details or processes involved.

4. Identify the Set of Activities Used in the Business Process

• List all the specific actions or tasks in the process.

5. Identify Control Flows and Nodes

• Define how the process flows between activities and any decisions or branching points.

6. Identify Object Flows and Nodes

• Determine the movement of objects (data or materials) between activities.

7. Lay Out & Draw the Diagram

• Sketch the diagram, ensuring clarity and minimal crossing lines for better understanding.