# Creating a workflow in Amazon SWF
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Creating a basic sequential workflow involves the following stages.
+ Modeling a workflow, registering its type, and registering its activity types
+ Developing and launching activity workers that perform activity tasks
+ Developing and launching deciders that use the workflow history to determine what to do next
+ Developing and launching workflow starters, that is, applications that start workflow executions

## Modeling Your Workflow and Its Activities
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To use Amazon SWF, model the logical steps in your application as activities. An activity represents a single logical step or task in your workflow. For example, authorizing a credit card is an activity that involves providing a credit card number and other information, and receiving an approval code or a message that the card was declined.

In addition to defining activities, you also need to define the coordination logic that handles decision points. For example, the coordination logic might schedule a different follow-up activity depending on whether the credit card was approved or declined.

The following figure shows an example of a sequential customer order workflow with four activities (Verify Order, Charge Credit Card, Ship Order, and Record Completion).

![\[Customer Order Workflow\]](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazonswf/latest/developerguide/images/swf-overview-workflow.png)