Observation
The Observation pattern creates elements and a diagram that describes how an Activity that forms part of a Business Process (or any other element) can be traced to an Image that has been recorded as an Observation. The image can be displayed in the diagram by selecting the Appearance section of the image element's context menu. The image can be imported from a file or the clipboard.

Figure 1. Shows an Activity that has an incoming trace relationship from an Observation, which in turn is traced from an Image (example only. The actual image that has been recorded for the observation can be imported and applied to the image in the diagram.
Discussion
The purpose of the pattern is to be able to record the findings made during an observation session in a formal way so they can be analyzed and related to other elements in the repository. Photos taken during the observation can be imported into the repository and traced to the Observation element helping an analyst remember or demonstrate to others, aspects of a user performing a given activity or task. Videos could also be linked from an external repository and launched from within Enterprise Architect.   

The pattern can be used as a way of documenting the observations that are made in either Active (the observer interrupts to ask question) or Passive Observations (the observer doesn't interrupt, but ask question at the end). Having the observations in the repository allows them to be related to Process diagrams and other specifications that help put these items in the context of the users work environment.

The following is a list of some things you may want to do when working with this pattern.
·	Rename the diagram.
Rename the Activity, Observation and Image to suit the initiative.
Import an observation photo or image into the Image Manager.
Use the image context menu to change the appearance selecting the image from the Image Manager.
Add detailed notes to the Observation element that describe the Observation and points of significance.
Update the properties of the Requirements to suit the initiative.

The following is a list of some of the next steps available when applying the pattern.
·	Define Trace relationships showing how the Observation relates to up-process elements such as Strategies, Business Rules and other Requirements and down-process elements such as User Stories, Use Cases, Components, Artifacts and database tables.
Create high quality documentation generated automatically from the model.
Create Discussions and Reviews and engage in Chat to collaborate with team members, Process owners, Product Managers and other stakeholders.
Reference
The following help topics will assist you learn about how to work with this pattern.
Observation
Artifact
Image Manager
Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK)
Traceability Tools
Documentation

The following are some of the tools that will be helpful when working with this pattern.
Artifact
An analyst might take a photograph or video of a user in their work environment as a way of recording the steps the user is performing to complete a task. This can provide a valuable resource for analyzing a complex sequence of tasks. While a photo or screen shot in a range of formats can be stored in the Image Manager a video file would have to reside on disk or in a system outside the Enterprise Architect repository. The Artifact element can be used as a proxy for the videos inside the repository allowing the video (or other file) to be launched directly from Enterprise Architect. This can be achieved by dragging the file onto a diagram or by creating an Artifact and assigning the Video as a file in the Properties sheet of the element. For more details see the Artifact help topic.
Image Manager
The Image Manager is a tool for managing images such as photos and screen shots and other pictures in a variety of formats. Often when observations are made an analyst will take one or more photos of a user in situ in their work environment. An analyst might also capture screen shots of the current applications the user is working with. All these digital assets can be imported into the Image Manager and then applied to elements in diagrams as an alternate image. Alternatively a picture contained in the Clipboard can be pasted directly into a diagram. For more details see the Image Manager help topic.
Calendar
The Calendar provides a way to record and present important temporal information such as events and meetings in calendar format. Collaborative Games can be entered into the Calendar and setup as recurring if needed. Event subtypes can be configured to add Collaborative Games as a Meeting Type. For more details see the Calendar help topic.
Model Mail
Model Mail can be used to notify and remind people of a Collaborative Game and to notify them after the game has been played about outcomes and decisions and required actions. Links to model elements and diagrams, matrices, team reviews and a variety of other items can be added.. For more details see the Model Mail help topic.
Linked Documents
Linked Documents provide a way of incorporating extensive and highly formatted documentation for an element. While an elements notes are a useful place to provide brief and visible information about an element a Linked Document can be used to create extensive documentation for an element including all the features you available in a typical word processing tool such as: Paragraph Formatting, Header and Footers, Table Images, Tables of contents and much more. For more details see the Linked Documents help topic.
Document Window
The Document Window is a powerful tool for generating, reading and editing narrative style information for an element. There are two tabs: the Dynamic Document Tab and the Linked Document Tab. The Dynamic Document tab generates documentation automatically from element information and the Linked Document tab cab be used for reading and editing an element's linked document. For more details see the Document Window help topic.
Document Generator
The Document Generator is a powerful facility in Enterprise Architect that allows a Database Engineer or other stakeholder to create high quality corporate or technical documentation directly from the model, suitable for internal or external audiences. For more details see the Documentation help topic or the more general topic on Model Publishing.
Element Discussions
The Element Discussion facility is a fully featured collaboration tool allowing modelers and model viewers and reviewers to communicate with each other directly inside the repository. Modelers using the full client or occasional viewers using WebEA can both post and reply to discussions and communicate and engage in chat. For more details see the Element Discussions help topic.
Specification View
The Specification View can be used as a way of working with any element type in a spreadsheet or word process view. It is particularly useful when there are a large number of elements as is typically the case when describing a system of any appreciable size. For more details see the Specification View help topic.
Relationship Matrix
The Relationship Matrix provides a spreadsheet like view of two groups of elements and the relationships that exist between them. It can be a used as a powerful analysis mechanism to visually indicate how elements are related to each other and to discover which elements are missing relationships. For more details see the Relationship Matrix  help topic.
Traceability Window
The Traceability Window automatically displays the relationships that exist between Use Cases and other model elements including up-process and down-process elements. The traceability tree view can be conveniently expanded to see deeper relationships and elements displayed in the window can be located in all diagrams in which they appear. For more details see the Traceability Window  help topic.

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