EventStorming explores complex business flows collaboratively through past domain events. Big Picture creates a shared overview; Process Level uses richer notation to examine a bounded process.

1. 1

   Frame

   Frame the flow and voices

   

   Goal

   Bound a business flow so the group can see it together and investigate it within the available time.

   Inputs for this step

   • Business flow with a named start and end
   • People with direct knowledge from affected areas
   • Known terms and open questions

   Actions

   • Make start, end, goal and deliberately excluded neighboring flows visible.
   • Name domain experts from business, operations and technology; record missing perspectives as a risk.
   • Prepare a large, open working surface and a parking area for solution discussions.

   Output

   Working frame

   Scope · participants · initial glossary · missing perspectives

   Quality check

   Can everyone say in one sentence which flow is being explored and which question should be clearer at the end?

   Pitfall

   If the workshop starts with a product name or architecture instead of a business flow, everyone lacks a shared concrete reference point. Choose a concrete story with a start, end, and visible value, and park architecture and solution ideas.

   Timing: 10–20 minutes; add missing domain voices or reduce scope before modelling.

2. 2

   Events first

   Collect past events

   

   Goal

   Create a broad, domain-shaped collection of events that have happened or are expected to happen in the chosen flow.

   Inputs for this step

   • Working frame and an example story
   • Orange cards or an equivalent digital board
   • Domain expertise from the participants

   Actions

   • Collect in parallel and write events as meaningful past-tense verbs, such as “OrderAccepted”.
   • Place cards roughly and let perspectives remain visible. Park cause, implementation and solution debates.
   • Mark external triggers, timing and uncertain memories instead of silently smoothing them over.

   Output

   Raw event picture

   Event collection · rough order · marked uncertainty

   Quality check

   Are the cards meaningful events with a relationship to time, rather than technical states, roles or desired features?

   Pitfall

   If the group sorts every card immediately or writes technical database states instead of business events, collecting slows down and the business focus is lost. Have the group collect in parallel, demonstrate the first notation with one example, and park technical detail for a suitable later zoom.

   Timing: 20–40 minutes; adapt scope and detail to the flow rather than to a fixed card count.

3. 3

   Timeline

   Sharpen the timeline and breaks

   

   Goal

   Build a shared behavior picture with a traceable order and visible gaps, variants and turning points.

   Inputs for this step

   • Raw event picture
   • Examples of normal and unusual paths
   • Markers for disagreement and friction

   Actions

   • Order events on the timeline and consolidate duplicates only with domain agreement.
   • Highlight pivotal events, parallel paths, loops and unresolved ordering.
   • When people disagree, keep both variants visible and record the question and the evidence needed next.

   Output

   Shared event timeline

   Timeline · turning points · variants · open questions

   Quality check

   Can the group explain what is agreed, where variants remain and which claim still needs observation or domain clarification?

   Pitfall

   If a clean-looking flow hides exceptions and different ways of working, the timeline looks more complete than it is. Ask specifically for workarounds, escalations, and cases outside the normal story, and let uncertainty remain a valid outcome.

   Timing: 25–45 minutes; use named slices for large flows and document their hand-offs.

4. 4

   Zoom

   Explore friction and boundaries

   

   Goal

   Describe learning, decision or delivery risks so they lead to a reasoned next investigation or design step.

   Inputs for this step

   • Shared event timeline
   • Observed friction, conflict and edge cases
   • Perspectives on responsibility, hand-offs and language

   Actions

   • Mark hot spots for ambiguity, conflicting goals, delay, risk or frequent manual work.
   • Draw domain or organizational boundaries as hypotheses and check them with the people involved.
   • For a prioritized slice, decide whether Big Picture is sufficient or a Process-Level zoom with commands, actors, policies and read models is useful.

   Output

   Hot-spot and boundary sketch

   Prioritized friction · boundary hypothesis · reasoned next zoom

   Quality check

   Is each boundary or hot spot grounded in the observed flow rather than inferred only from team structure or desired architecture?

   Pitfall

   If the Big Picture is filled with every notation element or bounded contexts are treated as final architecture, the group confuses a workshop hypothesis with a fixed decision. Focus on events, perspectives, and hot spots, and introduce richer notation only later, in the matching Process-Level zoom, as a hypothesis.

   Timing: 20–35 minutes; prioritize a few hot spots and keep the rest in an open list.

5. 5

   Follow-up

   Capture and continue

   

   Goal

   Translate the wall into a usable working artifact and ensure relevant uncertainties continue to be investigated.

   Inputs for this step

   • Event timeline and boundary sketch
   • Prioritized hot spots
   • Decision and delivery context

   Actions

   • Capture the wall or board in several states and document the notation used.
   • For every prioritized hot spot, record a question, an owner and a date or next piece of evidence.
   • Turn domain terms into a shared glossary and choose whether to deepen the next slice with Process Level, Domain Storytelling or another method.

   Output

   Usable EventStorming documentation

   Snapshot · timeline · glossary · owned hot spots and next actions

   Quality check

   Could someone who was absent understand the scope, key events, uncertainty and next actions?

   Pitfall

   If the group photographs the wall but open questions and ownership disappear afterward, the workshop's output is lost after the session. Label snapshots with date, scope, and legend, and secure every prioritized follow-up with an owner and a checkable step.

   Timing: 15–25 minutes; scale the close-out to the number and criticality of hot spots.