You may wish to use these naming conventions to make your BPMN diagrams clear.

Guidelines

  • Strive for clarity and consistency.
  • Be concise. (Details can be captured in text annotations, supplementary workflows, and procedures).
  • Avoid articles and pronouns.
  • Capitalize the first word of event and activity labels.

Tasks

Use the following convention when labeling tasks:

Imperative verb + (adjective) + noun

Example of a task label (imperative verb + adjective + noun)

Here are several examples of task names:

  • Analyze financial statements
  • Create new account
  • Review customer feedback
  • Approve purchase request
  • Process payment refund
  • Update contact information

Events

Default

The following naming convention is used for most event types, such as none type, message, signal, escalation, and error events:

Noun + past participle verb

Event types that use the noun + past participle verb labeling convention

For most verbs, the past participle is formed by adding -ed or -d to the end of the root form of the verb. For example, the past participle of resolve is resolved. Here are more examples:

  • Invoice received
  • Payment processed
  • Order shipped
  • Application approved
  • Request rejected
  • Issue resolved

Timer

Specify the time, date, or schedule that triggers a timer event.

Examples of timer event labels

  • Include time units (e.g., “Pause for 1 hour” rather than “Pause”).
  • Avoid abbreviations (e.g., “Pause for 1 hour” rather than “Pause for 1 hr”).