Designing a Business Process Model

This topic describes the procedure to design a business process model using the various BPMN constructs.

You can design a business process model using the various BPMN constructs. Each construct is represented by an icon that is available on the business process modeler toolbox. The following steps describe the procedure to add the constructs while designing a business process model.

1. To design your business process model you can do any one of the following:
   
   • Select a starting point and click (<Business Process Model>) to open an existing business process model.
   • If you have the business process model already opened, then perform step 2.

     By default, the grid view is turned on in the business process modeler. For more information on using the grid view, refer to the topic on Working in Grid View.

2. Drag the Start event icon () from the toolbox to the business process modeler.
3. Drag the Activity construct icon () from the toolbox to the business process modeler. To view the toolbox after it is closed, click (Options) and select Toolbox.

   To accelerate the modeling process and quickly draw constructs, see Easy Ways to Draw Constructs in Design Time topic. To quickly associate an activity with another document such as a Web Service, User Interface, Business Process Model, Case Model or a Role, click the Insert tab and select the desired document. Alternatively, click the Workspace Explorer tab in the modeler and drag-drop the required document on to a construct in the business process model. Use the construct when you need to group a set of activities together. Click on the plus sign of the embedded sub-process to expand and view all the activities that are grouped within. Click on the minus sign of the embedded sub-process to collapse the view. Click Undo (Ctrl+Z) when you want to cancel the current operation and revert to the previous state. Click Redo (Ctrl+Shift+Z) when you want to re-incorporate the cancelled operation.

4. Drag the Decision construct icon () from the toolbox on to the business process modeler if you have any decision branching. You can add other constructs required for your process flow by dragging them on to the business process modeler. Refer to Constructs Used in a Business Process Model.
5. Link the constructs using the connector icon () from the toolbar. You can align the connector text to the connector direction by right-clicking it and selecting Align Text.
6. To end the process, drag the End event icon () from the toolbox on to the business process modeler.

You have successfully modeled a business process.