e-VOL BPMN: A Technique to Support the Evolution and Learning of BPMN Diagrams Systematic Mapping (Technical Report)

In the software maintenance, business process models help practitioners understanding of the software, because it represents the organizational process in which software is embedded. BPMN (Business Process Modeling and Notation) is the standard notation for business process modeling. However, it is common for the BPMN diagrams to be outdated, which, among other possibilities, may be caused due to the lack of adequate knowledge of some practitioners about the notation.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, we proposed and evaluated the e-VOL BPMN, a technique that supports the evolution of BPMN diagrams and on learning BPMN notation. In this evaluation, we compared e-VOL BPMN with the BPMN 2.0 Poster, an artifact 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, we notice that e-VOL BPMN support both learning and evolution of BPMN diagrams.