A system for routing documents (or pages) between users responsible for working on them. This is often used to implement a review and sign-off process for new or updated content.

Workflow is the management of who exactly is working on a Content Element or Content Template, what exactly they are doing, and when. The workflow reporting system sends messages to others working on a page, with details of actions taken.

Different workers can have assigned roles. Notification may be sent to the roles rather than the individuals.

Typical roles are writers, copy editors, editors, illustrators, graphic artists, rights clearance managers, lawyers, (multilingual) localizers, and publishers.

Beyond Content Management, Work Flow is a tool used to analyze and manage any Business Process. Work Flow tools create status reports and notifications (usually by email) to managers who are monitoring the process. A Business Process is an abstract idea that describes some aspect of a business in terms of discrete steps, or actions, or events, that are followed in the process.

Wf-XML? is a markup or modeling language for Work Flow, as is BPML - Business Process Modeling Language.

Work Flow is also a term of art in studies of the User Experience. When reacting to a design prototype, a user may follow successful paths to achieve a task in a goal-oriented Use Case or scenario. Successful paths are usually well understood in Interaction Design. But Work Flow also should document the paths that lead to failure.

Documentation of the User Experience, especially in the form a of a Flow Chart? or Bubble Chart? or Data Flow Diagram?, is a kind of Work Flow.