E‐VOL BPMN: a technique to support the evolution and learning of BPMN diagrams

Abstract

In the software maintenance, business process models help practitioners understanding of the software, because it represents the organisational process in which software is embedded. BPMN (Business Process Modelling and Notation) is the standard notation for business process modelling. However, it is common for the BPMN diagrams to be outdated, which, among other possibilities, may be caused due to the lack of adequate knowledge of some practitioners about the notation. It is important to provide means to stimulate the evolution of these models and, consequently, to aid in the learning of BPMN notation. With this focus, the authors proposed and evaluated the e-VOL BPMN, a technique that supports the evolution and the learning of BPMN diagrams. In this evaluation, they compared e-VOL BPMN with the BPMN 2.0 Poster, an artefact used commonly to support BPMN notation in companies. Participants who used the e-VOL BPMN in a scenario of diagrams evolution presented more correct BPMN diagrams and had a higher learning perception of the notation. In addition, in a written exam on BPMN notation, participants who used e-VOL BPMN scored higher. From these results, they notice that e-VOL BPMN support both evolution and learning of BPMN diagrams.