Patent ID: 8719826

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, at one or more processors, a first message from a user interface, the message including a first indication representing a first link between a first task and a second task of a work flow model including a plurality of tasks, the first link being a strong dependency representing that execution of the second task occurs as a subsequent task to execution of the first task without any intervening tasks of the work flow model being executed before the second task is executed; receiving, at the one or more processors, a second message from the user interface, the second message including a second indication representing a second link between the second task and a third task of the work flow model including the plurality of tasks, the second link being a weak dependency configured to allow execution of the third task to be delayed until after execution of a fourth task when the fourth task is inserted between the second task and the third task, wherein insertion of the fourth task between the second task and the third task creates a third link between the second task and the fourth task and a fourth link between the fourth task and the third task, the third link and the fourth link both being weak dependencies configured to allow insertion of additional tasks; providing, by the one or more processors to the user interface, the first task coupled via the first link to the second task coupled via the second link to the third task, the first link configured as at least a first graphical element comprising a first line coupling the first task and the second task, and the second link configured as at least a second graphical element comprising a second line coupling the second task and the third task, the second link graphically distinct from the first link to enable identification, when presented at the user interface, of the weak dependency between the second task and the third task and to allow insertion of the fourth task between the second task and the third task; and providing, by the one or more processors to the user interface during execution of a process instance of the work flow model, a prompt requesting user intervention as to whether the weak dependency is to be finalized by converting the weak dependency into a strong dependency or preserving the weak dependency before adding the fourth task between the second task and the third task.