activityhow

Activityhow is a term used in process documentation and workflow modeling to denote the method by which an activity is performed. It combines the notion of an activity (the task to be accomplished) with the how (the technique, tools, or approach used to perform it). It is not an official standard or widely adopted convention, and definitions vary between organizations and communities.

Origins and concept: The term has appeared in online discussions and practice notes as teams seek to separate what is done from how it is done. As a modeling aid, activityhow aims to provide clarity about execution methods without prescribing every step of the work. In this sense, it can complement other modeling constructs that describe what happens, such as activity diagrams or task lists.

Structure and usage: An activityhow entry typically includes the activity name, objective, prerequisites, the method or technique to be used, tools or software involved, roles responsible, inputs and outputs, and constraints or quality criteria. It is intended as metadata that guides practitioners on acceptable or preferred approaches, while allowing flexibility in execution. In some implementations, it appears as annotations within process models or as a separate documentation layer.

Examples: In software development, an activity such as “Build project” may specify the how as “Maven with Java 11, CI pipeline via GitHub Actions.” In education, “Student assessment” might have the how described as “written exam with rubric.” In manufacturing, “Quality inspection” could be “statistical process control with sampling.”

Reception and critique: Some practitioners view activityhow as a useful clarifying tool, while others see it as duplicative of existing procedural documentation. Implementations may use metadata fields, annotations, or separate documents. See also: activity diagram, process documentation, workflow, method.