COB Activity Diagram – Detailed Guidelines
Document Objectives
This document provides detailed guidelines for using Activity Diagrams. We recommend that you read through or review this document at least once, even if you decide to use the quick reference version.
Organization of this Document
Section 1 of this document presents the only symbols or shapes or stencils that you are allowed to use in this course. Section 2 introduces you to Visio features and formatting that are to be used in this course.
About Actors in an Activity Diagram
While modeling a scenario using an Activity Diagram, it is important to select actors correctly. An actor in Activity Diagrams is equivalent to an element in Systems Theory. In Systems Theory chapter in BA270, system components are considered elements if they:
1. Are a part of the system.
2. Are capable of adding value. (The value added must be beyond data storage or printing. The value added must be beyond storing data in digital or hard copy format.)
3. Can act on their own. (Sometimes they may need an input trigger to start their action.)
In Activity Diagrams, we do not use the term elements. Instead, we us the term actors.
In the car rental scenario, is the inbox (that holds maintenance job documents) an actor? How about an Information System, a printer, or a manual? Would these be considered as actors? Reflect on these questions before reading the next paragraph.
A box that holds papers is not an actor because it cannot act on its own. However, an Information System that stores digital documents can be an actor, especially if it can dynamically and automatically process and add value to the data, after it receives the data input. Generally, a printer is not considered an actor because it does not add value beyond data storage in a hard copy format. A manual is not an actor because it cannot act on its own.

Section 1: Basic Shapes
The shapes in Tables 1 and 2, called stencils in Visio, are drawn from MS Visio. The Visio software and these symbols are used in some other classes at OSU COB. Other industries and organizations will set their own guidelines for the meanings of each symbol. It is considered good practice to set and use organization-wide guidelines. This is so that everyone can interpret diagrams in a consistent manner.
For your BA270 assignments, do not use stencils other than those listed in Tables 1 and 2. Also don’t use these stencils for any reason other than how they are defined in the tables. For example, don’t use an ‘E-Document’ stencil to denote a paper ‘Document’. We have defined these stencils in a specific way for many good reasons, including grading consistency. If you need to document something that can’t be documented using these stencils, contact your TA for help.
In this document, we refer to start and stop points, action steps, decision branches, and process inputs/outputs as process action steps. Table 1 lists and explains the symbols used to illustrate process action steps. Paper and digital documents are examples of process objects. Table 2 lists and explains the symbols used to depict process objects.
Process Action Steps
Action verbs are a good way to locate and separate process steps in the process scenario narrative. Not all verbs are action verbs or depict separate steps.
Table 1: Basic Shapes to Illustrate Process Action Steps
Shape Process Action Steps
Terminator. Terminator (Start/End) stencils show the start and stop points in a process. The same stencil is used for the Start and End points of a process. When used as a Start symbol, terminators depict a trigger action that sets the process flow into motion. End terminators are the last step in a process. No other stencil can be left hanging. (Hanging means that there is no subsequent step coming off the stencil.) All processes are different and may have more than one outcome or end point.
Process step. Process steps show a Process or action step. This is the most common symbol in flow charts. The labels for these steps usually include an action verb such as “Creates schedule” or “Re-Formats Data”. Each process step has one verb per step. If you have more than one action verb, you are probably dealing with more than one process step. You need to depict these other steps using new, separate process step stencils.
Input/Output. In this course, Input/Output stencils are used to depict a process step that is an input or an output involving an Information System.

Caution! All stencils belong in the lane of the actor who is performing the action. Labels for this stencil usually include input or output as its action verb. For example, “Inputs Data”. See Section 2 of this document – subsection titled ‘Labeling Stencils’.

Note: This stencil is called ‘Data’ in one Visio stencil group and ‘I/O’ in another. You can use either stencil as they are the same. See Section 2 – subsection labeled ‘Locating Stencils’.
Decision. Decision stencils depict a question or branch in the process flow. They are typically used when there are two or three possible decisions. (E.g. Yes/No or No/No-Go.) Label the stencil with simplified version of the decision or question being asked. Always label the arrows/connectors leading away from this stencil with the decision outcomes. For example, in a Yes/No decision, one arrow will be labeled as ‘Yes’ and the other arrow will be labeled as ‘No’. See Section 2 – subsection labeled ‘Connector Tool’.

Process Objects
Process steps frequently have objects that go along with them. Remember, modeling these steps requires drawing more than one stencil to depict the action and the object(s) involved. Make sure that you don’t forget to model the objects that go along with each step and ensure that the object is also placed in the correct Swimlane.
Table 2: Basic Shapes to Depict Process Objects
Shape Process Objects
E-Document (Electronic or External document/data). Most often you will use this stencil to depict an electronic copy (e.g. a file) of a document. These should be kept inside the lane of the Information System (IS) that stores the document electronically. Depicting these documents outside an IS actor’s lane denotes using an email attachment. Warning! Email attachments are prohibited in some assignments. Some other COB courses may use this symbol to represent external data (e.g. supplier invoice).
Multiple E-Documents. Variation of the E-Document stencil to depict multiple or many e-documents. (Note: this stencil is not currently available in Visio, but can be made using instructions found in Section 2 – subsection labeled ‘Creating the Multiple E-Document Stencil’.)
Document. This is used to depict a paper (hard copy) document.
Multi-Document (paper copies). Variation of the Document stencil to depict multiple documents. See Section 2 – subsection labeled ‘Locating Stencils’.

Modeling a scenario as an Activity Diagram
First, read through the scenario narrative to get an understanding of the process. Then, read through it again and highlight actors, process steps, and process objects that need to be modeled. When reading through the narrative a second time, you may want to use different colors to differentiate these three categories. This will help keep track of which actors are doing an action step, making a decision, and/or are in possession of an object. Now you are ready to create an Activity Diagram.
The next section provides instructions on how to create an Activity Diagram using Visio.
Section 2: Cross-Functional Flowchart in Visio
The Cross-Functional Flowchart has many options that you may use to model a process. Here are some tips on some of these options. Since this course uses Vertical Swimlanes, the instructions here are for Vertical Orientation. Horizontal Orientation instructions will be different, yet similar.
Vertical Orientation
When opening the ‘Cross-Functional Flowchart’ for the first time, Visio will offer you the choice of ‘Vertical Orientation’ or ‘Horizontal Orientation’. However, Visio may not offer this option on subsequent attempts. You can change the orientation by selecting the ‘Cross-Functional Flowchart’ tab > Orientation > and selecting Vertical. See Figure 1.

Figure 1: Cross-Functional Orientation
Simple Design and Landscape Orientation
While Visio provides many design patterns to make your diagrams look nice, these designs can sometimes clutter the diagram and distract your audience from your message. On the Design tab, use the ‘Simple’ design Theme. Caution! Do not select the Theme that is called ‘No Theme’. See Figure 2. If you select ‘No Theme’, the arrows in your Activity Diagram will not display. Also, use Landscape Orientation for Activity Diagrams that have many actors/elements. This will give you a wider palette to draw on.

Figure 2: Visio Design Tab Features
Swimlanes
The vertical columns of the Cross-Functional Flowchart are called ‘Swimlanes’. Each actor will have its own Swimlane. One Swimlane per actor.
There are many ways to add a Swimlane to your diagram. For example, here are four ways to insert lanes.
• Right click on a Swimlane header (default header text reads as ‘Function’), and select “Insert ‘Swimlane (vertical)’ Before” or “Insert ‘Swimlane (vertical)’ After”.
• Click on the “Cross-Functional Flowchart” tab and then click on the “Insert Swimlane” control.
• Hover your pointer just under the right boundary of a Swimlane, a vertical, yellow or orange line with a blue triangle below it should appear. If you click on this triangle, a Swimlane will be placed to the right of the yellow line. See Figure 3.

Figure 3: Swimlane Insert Method: Blue Triangle
• Select one Swimlane, copy it, paste it, and then move the pasted column to the desired location in your diagram.
You can adjust the width of a Swimlane by grabbing the right boundary and dragging it to the desired position. No Stencil should cross a Swimlane boundary and no arrow connector should overlap a boundary.
Connector Tool
Once you have your stencils laid out, use the ‘Connector Tool’ to connect them with arrows. By default the ‘Pointer Tool’ is selected. On the ‘Home’ tab, select the ‘Connector Tool’ (see Figure 4) and mouse-over the first stencil. Four connector dots should appear (Up, Down, Left, Right) on the stencil border. Click a dot and Drag the connector to a dot on the next stencil in sequence and release. Visio should now have drawn an arrow that points from the first stencil to the second stencil. Now, if you move one of the stencils, the arrows should stay connected to both stencils and automatically adjust to the new position.
Warning! Be careful when drawing connectors or moving stencils that have connectors attached. No arrow line, portion of line, or head (pointer) can point up. Arrows can go left, right and down. Never Up! Arrows going up could be an automatic failure of the assignment.
Notice the word ‘Phase’ written vertically along the left edge of the diagram. This denotes that the y-axis in Activity Diagrams indicates the flow of time or subsequent phases of the process. Arrows going up denote going backwards in time. Since this is impossible, arrows going up mean that you have incorrectly modeled your process or scenario.
Don’t forget to switch back to the ‘Pointer Tool’ in order to interact with your diagram or connector again.

Figure 4: Home Tab Tools
Labeling Connectors
Connectors have their own labeling function. Use this function to label connectors/arrows, especially the arrows branching out from a Decision stencil. This stencil requires labels on its arrows as described in Section 1 – Table 1. Ensure that you have switched back to the ‘Pointer Tool’. Double-Click on a connector. A textbox should appear near the mid-point of the arrow. Type in the appropriate label for the connection and press Escape (Esc).
Locating Stencils
The information provided here can be referenced in Figure 5. Stencils can be located in the ‘Shapes’ menu bar on the left side of the page. By clicking on the different stencil groups, you can locate stencils associated with that group. The stencils in that group should then appear below the group names. Some stencil groups are not listed automatically. You can click on the ‘Search’ tab to find a specific stencil or stencil group and then select it.
For example, in order to locate the ‘Multi-Documents’ stencil:
1. On the ‘Shapes’ menu, Click on the ‘More Shapes’ group.
2. Expand the tree by hovering the cursor over (mouse-over) the groups: Business > Business Process > Audit Diagram Shapes.
3. The ‘Audit Diagram Shapes’ group should now appear in the menu on the left.
In this group you will find the ‘Multi-Document’ stencil. Sometimes a simple search using the keywords “Multi-documents” on the ‘Basic Flowchart Shapes’ menu may bring up the ‘Multi-Document’ stencil.
Also in the ‘Audit Diagram Shapes’ group, you will find a parallelogram (symbol used to denote Input/Output) called I/O. Under the ‘Quick Shapes’ group, this stencil is called ‘Data’. Both stencils are the same thing. You can use either ‘I/O’ or ‘Data’ stencils as the Input/Output stencil.

Figure 5: Locating Stencils in Visio
Switch back to the ‘Stencil’ tab to locate and use your other stencils. Recently used stencils/groups should be listed with the other stencil groups. You can also locate a stencil or stencil group by clicking on ‘More Shapes’ and exploring the tree of stencil groups.
Placing/Using Stencils
Stencils are used by clicking on them and dragging and dropping them out onto a Swimlane. All stencils belong in the lane of the actor doing the action or in possession of a process object. You need to model all steps and objects in the correct actor’s lane. Note the following two distinctive points about stencils.
• A single object can change hands many times. You will need to model that object with a new stencil in the appropriate actor’s lane each time possession of the object changes.
• Modeling one process step might require you to draw/use multiple stencils.
For example, assume that you want to model a data-entry process step. Start with placing an ‘Input/Output’ stencil in a data entry actor’s lane. Then, place an ‘E-Document’ stencil in the Information System (IS) actor’s lane to represent this process object. Then, connect the two stencils with an arrow/connector. See ‘Inputs Data’ stencil in the ‘Data Entry Staff’ lane, and the ‘Reviewed Complaint E-Document’ stencil in the ‘IS’ lane in Figure 6. If this data is later moved to a different IS actor, you would need to place an additional ‘E-Document’ stencil in the new IS actor’s lane.
Labeling Stencils
Label stencils succinctly. Don’t write “novels” to label your process steps. Process steps usually involve an action verb that you read in the narrative; you should probably use that verb in your label. Remember, if there is more than one action verb, there is probably more than one action step. In this case, create additional process step stencils to model these other steps. For example, if an actor reviews and delivers a document, then your activity diagram must include one separate stencil for the ‘review’ action, and another stencil for the ‘delivery’ action.
A note on succinct labels
When labeling process steps, do not mention the name of the actor performing the step. For example, don’t write, “Data Entry Staff Inputs the data.” Instead write, “Inputs the data.” There are many things that will be ‘understood’ simply by having that stencil in that actor’s lane. Likewise using this input example, don’t mention where the input is going. The arrow that connects the input action step to the process object (the data) will describe where it is going. For example, don’t write, “Inputs the Data into the IS.” Instead write, “Inputs the Data” and then draw an arrow from the ‘Input’ stencil to the
‘E-Document’ stencil, which has been placed in the IS actor’s lane. See Figure 6. Ignore the fact that this Figure does not have the start/stop terminator symbols. For brevity, we intentionally are not attempting to demonstrate that requirement here.

Figure 6: Succinct Labels
Note that in Figure 6, we did not include a separate process step to model the Data Entry staff receiving the Document. The receiving is implied, and is not a separate process step. Also note that this example or any of its actors is not meant to be a part of your assignment submission.
Visio uses 8 point font by default. This font will become too small to read once it has been pasted into another document and printed. Create a stencil and resize the font right away to at least 16 point font. Resizing the font might force you to resize the stencil. Never let a stencil’s label cross or touch the stencil’s border rendering the label illegible. You may have to widen the Swimlane as well. (See subsection labeled ‘Swimlanes’ above).
Creating the Multiple E-Document Stencil
First, drag one ‘E-Document’ stencil out onto your diagram. Drag a second ‘E-Document’ stencil out and place it over the first, shifted slightly to the left to match the drawing in Section 1 – Table 2. Use the ‘Select’ tool (see Figure 4) to select both stencils. Use the ‘Group’ tool (see Figure 4) to group the two stencils together. After this, Visio will treat both stencils as one. This makes moving it around easy. If you need another ‘Multiple E-Document’ stencil, select the one you just created, copy it, and paste it. Then, move the new stencil to the desired position. If you are having trouble with this ‘Group’ feature in Visio, you may have to copy and paste both stencils independently in such a way that the stencils show up as multiple E-documents.
Increase/Reduce Excess White Space
Since your Activity Diagram follows the flow of time, your process will continually grow downwards until the process or scenario is complete. You can increase the room at the bottom of the Visio palette by grabbing the bottom edge of the Swimlane and dragging it down. It is okay if your Visio diagram extends into multiple pages. When you are done modeling the scenario, remove excess white space by grabbing the bottom edge and dragging it back up. Ensure that all stencils are within all borders, including the bottom-edge of the Swimlanes.
Moving Groups of Stencils
Moving groups of stencils is another way to reduce white space. You can grab a group of stencils and move them as one by using the ‘Select’ tool. You can select groups of stencils using the ‘Area Select’ or ‘Lasso Select’ options. When you use ‘Area Select’, you will Click, Hold, and Drag, to select a square area of the diagram. When you use ‘Lasso Select’, you can draw a free-form line around a group of stencils to select them.
Warning! Ensure that no arrows or parts of arrows go up. Ensure that no arrows or parts of arrows are left hanging after moving the stencils!
Saving Visio Files
You should always have two saved files for your completed diagram. You should also retain these files until a week after final grades have been released for this course.
1. The diagram must be saved in the Visio file format (currently ‘.vsdx’) as you may need to make corrections. If you don’t save it in the Visio file format, it could take you a long time to reconstruct your Visio diagram to make even the smallest changes.
2. The diagram must also be saved in the JPEG (*.jpg) file format. This is a picture file format that is much smaller in size than the Visio file format. It will make displaying, saving, and printing your diagram in a document processor (e.g., MS Word) easier and your document file will be smaller in size.

Figure 7: Visio File Format
Saving in the Visio file format should be the default setting and should be straight forward. Saving to the JPEG file format takes more steps.
1. Use the Select Tool (see Figure 4) and Select All (you may have to full screen Visio to see this tool). If you don’t Select All, you could lose most of your Activity Diagram. By default, when saving to JPEG file format, Visio saves only the currently selected item, which is usually the last stencil you worked on.
2. Select File > Save As > locate the place you want to save the file to. Ensure that you don’t save the picture on a virtual desktop. Save it on the cloud or ONID drive or USB (flash) drive.
3. Change the ‘Save as type:’ to ‘JPEG File Interchange Format (*.jpg)’ (see Figure 7) using the dropdown menu.
4. Change the ‘File Name:’ to something appropriate for the course.
5. Select ‘Save’ and wait for the next window to pop-up.
6. In the ‘JPG Output Options’ window, Change the Quality to 100 and then select ‘OK’. See Figure 8.

Figure 8: JPG Output Options
Congratulations! You have reached the end of this detailed guidelines document!