Patent ID: 8839092

Claim:
A method for workflow annotation of a workflow in a workflow system, the method comprising: based on a first GUI action, obtaining, by a processor, a workflow document from a document store; based on a workflow document key, obtaining one or more workflow annotation widgets from an annotation store, the annotation store comprising widget positioning information; presenting to a GUI display, the one or more workflow annotation widgets overlaid on the workflow document according to the widget positioning information, wherein the one or more workflow annotation widgets each represent a workflow task in a workflow, and wherein the one or more workflow annotation widgets are presented as selectable icons on the workflow document; based on a second GUI action selecting a desired workflow annotation widget of the GUI displayed one or more workflow annotation widgets, retrieving, annotation data associated with the desired workflow annotation widget and a schema to which the annotation data conforms to, wherein the schema describes a structure associated with the annotation data, and wherein the annotation data and the schema are stored separate from each other in the annotation store; generating, based on retrieving the annotation data and the schema, an annotation document corresponding to the workflow task represented by the workflow annotation widget that has been selected, the annotation document comprising first information and first functionality, the workflow system configured to provide a first customized view and a second customized view of the annotation document; presenting to the GUI display the first customized view of the annotation document, wherein the first customized view comprises a first set of elements and at least a second set of elements of the annotation document being displayed to a first user, wherein the first set of elements are modifiable by the first user, wherein the second set of elements are only modifiable by at least a second user, wherein modifications made to the first set of elements and the second set of elements are storable in the annotation store by the first user and the second user, respectively, and wherein the first set of elements and the at least second set of elements being displayed in a non-segregated manner; receiving one or more modifications made to at least one of the first set of elements and the second set of elements; based on receiving the one or more modifications, identifying a next workflow task in the workflow; based on identifying the next workflow task, identifying a workflow annotation widget representing the identified next workflow task; and instantiating the identified workflow annotation widget, the instantiating at least making the identified workflow annotation widget available in the workflow document as a selectable icon for one or more users.