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BPMN and sequence diagrams
Organizational process flow and participant interactions offer different perspectives on behavior.
| Question | BPMN | UML |
|---|---|---|
| Main emphasis | Activities, events, gateways, and organizational participants | Messages exchanged by participants in time order |
| Good question | Who handles a cancellation, and what happens after a deadline? | Which service receives the request and what response follows? |
| Boundary | A process model does not specify every API payload | A sequence does not capture every organizational workflow rule |
Try the distinction
A workshop refund requires an organizer’s approval and a timeout escalation. Which view would you start with?
Open the reasoning
Start with BPMN to show the approval activity, event, and escalation across participants. Add a sequence view later if service-level messages need specification.