Business transactions typically include several steps or activities. The activities may be broken down into a series of textual description and visualized using a process flow diagram. For example, a business transaction between a bank customer and a bank teller may consist of several activities or steps when making a deposit. Each activity can be visualized with an association link to another activity.
In the past, flow diagram tools have been used to help visualize a process and the activities. Diagrams are useful in identifying errors and omissions in the process and to detect inefficiencies and redundancies. However, properly developing process flow diagrams from textual descriptions and to identify problems within the process can be tedious and time consuming.
Computer programs may be used to simplify the complexity of developing process diagrams from textual descriptions. A recent approach is premised on the process being modeled as one or more linked steps or activities that collectively describe the process. The process is typically within the context of an organizational structure defining functional roles and relationships. A flow direction defines the interaction of the activities. During this flow, documents, information, or tasks are passed from one person to another for action. The computer software allows a user to represent flows as a connected series of activities or steps. Interconnection between the activities represents the exchange of information. However, a shortcoming of identifying errors in the visual process flow diagram is that the error and omissions may be overlooked. In addition, it is time consuming to generate a process flow diagram from a textual description of a complex process that may include several conditional factors.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved method and system to generate process flow diagrams that is easy to visualize and use. There is a further need for identifying logical errors and omissions within the textual description of a process before developing the process flow diagram.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds