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Process maps are intensively used by organizations to provide a holistic view of all processes and the relationships between them. They assist in easier navigation through the processes and enable an understanding of the company’s operations without necessarily going into process depth. Regardless of their apparent significance, hardly any research has been done in conceptualizing process map design. In this paper, we bring awareness to this topic, by assessing the compliance of 15 process maps to the nine principles for cognitively effective design of visual notations introduced by Moody (2009). In addition, we employ the cognitive fit theory to verify if the process maps are designed in accordance to the goals companies planned to achieve through BPM. By this means, we were able to reach conclusions, such that a process map that does not comply with the criteria stated by the principles is difficult to interpret, and thereby yields unwanted, unanticipated or no beneficial effects.