A Process Flow is a series of steps and decisions that describes a business process that is executed by a person.  At ArgonDigital, our business analysts create Process Flows to show how the user navigates through the product we are creating. Simply, a Process Flow is a model showing the actions of a person chronologically.  It can be used to show how a sales representative would navigate through there sales application system to place an order for a customer or to show how a small business applies for a credit card online.

The wonderful thing about a Process Flow (and just like all our RML models) they can be used for everything. In this blog post I will show you how to create a Process Flow about hosting a party.

This model is a high level Process Flow (it shows the big actions the host makes but does not go into specifics). As you can see the host sent invitations, bought libations, prepared his apartment for the party, made drinks, and entertained guests.  This next Process Flow describes the process of the host making drinks.

Note the numbering for each chart. Step 4 in the ‘top’ level process flow of hosting a party was to make a drink. As you can see by the sub-level process flow, the drink he made here was a mint julep. You can use a variety of levels to keep all process flow charts simple and easy to read, while still diving into details about certain aspects of the process.

Please feel free to comment on ways you can use Process Flows to help you organize your daily activities and, while you’re at it, have a mint julep.