A
activity
  process element which supports the nesting and logical grouping of related process elements such as descriptor and sub-Activities, thus forming breakdown structures.
activity detail diagram
  Diagram depicting all the process elements within the scope of an activity Activity (Role descriptors, Work Product Descriptors, TaskDescriptors, sub-Activities). This diagram also depicts input/output relationships between Task Descriptors (or Activities)and Work Product Descriptors, as well as responsibility relationships between Role Descriptors and Task Descriptors. Activity Detail Diagrams are used to provide a complete summary of an activity and thus improve their comprehensibility.
artifact
  A formal work product that:
  1) is produced, modified, or used by a task,
  2) defines an area of responsibility
  3) is subject to version control.

  An artifact can have multiple forms including a model, a model element, or a document.

B
breakdown element
  Any element modeled in UMA that is part of process structure.
breakdown structure

  UMA construct that specifies a process as the hierarchical composition of breakdown elements.

C
capability pattern

  A Capability Pattern is a special Process that describes a reusable cluster of Activities. Capabilities Patterns express and communicate process knowledge for a key area of interest such as a Discipline and can be directly used by process practitioner to guide his work.

content element
  Any element modeled in UMA that is part of method content.Content Elements providestep-by-stepexplanations,describing how very specific development goals are achieved independent of the placement of these steps within a development lifecycle. They are instantiated and adapted to the specific situation within process structures.
customer
  A person or organization, internal or external to the producing organization, who takes financial responsibility for the system. In a large system this may or may not be the user. The customer is the ultimate recipient of the developed product. See also: stakeholder.
D
deliverable
  An output from a process that has a value, material or otherwise, to a customer or other stakeholder .
delivery process
  A Delivery Process is a special process describing a complete and integrated approach for performing a specific project type. It provides a complete lifecycle model that has been detailed by sequencing Method Content in breakdown structures.
descriptor
  Abstract generalization for special breakdown elements that reference one concrete content element. Descriptors are the key concept for realizing the separation of process from Method Content. A Descriptor can be characterized as a reference object for one particular Content Element. In addition, a Descriptor has its own relationships and properties whose purpose is to modify the semantics of the Content Element it refers to.
discipline
  A collection of related tasks that define a major 'area of concern'. In software engineering, Disciplines include: Business Modeling, Requirements, Analysis & Design, Implementation,Test, Deployment, Configuration & Change Management, Project Management, Environment.
document
  A document is a collection of information intended to be represented on paper, or in a medium using a paper metaphor. The paper metaphor includes the concept of pages, and it has either an implicit or explicit sequence of contents. The information is in text or two-dimensional pictures. Examples of paper metaphors are word processor documents, spreadsheets, schedules, Gantt charts, web-pages, and overhead slide presentations.
domain

  (1)An area of knowledge or activity characterized by a family of related values.

  (2)Refineable hierarchy grouping related Work Products.

F
Feature
  An externally observable service provided by the system which directly fulfills a Stakeholde Need .
G
guidance
  Generalizes all forms of content whose primary purpose is to provide explanations about other UMA elements. Guidance being itself a content element, it is possible to associate Guidance to other Guidance.
I
input
  A Work Product used by a task See: static Work Product.
M
Method Content

  Describes generic UMA methodological concepts and guidance which provide step-by-step explanations, describing how specific goals are achieved independently of the placement of these steps within a process lifecycle. UMA separates Method Content from its application in process.

model

  A semantically closed abstraction of a system; a complete description of a system from a particular perspective (complete means that no additional information is needed to understand the system from that perspective); a set of model elements. Two models cannot overlap.

model element
  An element that is an abstraction drawn from the system being modeled. Contrast: view element.
O
outcome

  Primarily describes intangible Work Products that are a result or state. An Outcome can also be used to represent an informal Work Product.

output
  (1) Any Work Product that is the result of a task. See: deliverable.
P
process

  (1) A general structure for particular types of development projects. Processes take content elements and relate them into semi-ordered sequences that are customized to specific types of projects. Thus, a Process is a set of partially ordered work descriptions intended to reach a higher development goal, such as the release of a specific software These work descriptions are organized into a hierarchical breakdown-structure A Process focuses on the lifecycle and the sequencing of work in breakdown structures.

  (2) The part of UMA that models processes.

R
Requirement

  A requirement is a specification of an externally observable behavior of the system; for example, inputs to the system, outputs from the system, functions of the system, attributes of the system, or attributes of the system environment.

role
  A definition of the behavior and responsibilities of an individual, or a set of individuals working together as a team, within the context of a business organization.
S
stakeholder
  An individual who is who is materially affected by the outcome of the process (i.e. the deliverables the process produces).
Stakeholder Need
  The business or operational problem (opportunity) that must be fulfilled in order to justify purchase or use.
static work product
  A work product that is used, but not changed, by a process.
step
  content element used to organize tasks into parts or subunits of work.
T
task
  A unit of work a role may be asked to perform.
tool mentor
  guidance that explains how to perform specific task or steps using a specificsoftware tool.
U
UMA
  Stands for Unified Method Architecture. UMA is a state-of-the-art architecture for the conceiving, specifying, and storing of method and process metadata.
V
view element
  A view element is a textual and/or graphical projection of a collection of model elements.
W
work product
  content element that represents anything used, produced, or modified by a task.