Using UML Notation for Modeling Business Interaction

Abstract

Business modeling is concerned with asking questions and giving answers to these questions. In systems development different types of diagrams, notational rules, are used to document answers and to give inspiration to new questions. Popular notations used today are diagrams, such as use case diagrams and activity diagrams, within the Unified Modeling Language (UML). UML is claimed to be methodology-independent. Such a claim means that there is a need for theories to guide the analyst to direct attention towards desired aspects. This chapter deals with the issue of how business interaction and its support by information systems could be modeled by modeling techniques put forward in UML. A conceptual analysis has been performed, which reveals that it is possible and there is a need to use UML together with the proposed theories in order to arrive at an intentional and conscious design. The analysis has been structured around the concepts of action, actor and business process. The analysis shows that some basic foundations could be covered in the chosen diagrams, but that there is also a need to complement those diagrams with richer properties concerning all these concepts.