How do I design a state machine?

Question

I am trying to design a data catalogue page that shows the state of the data (draft, pending publish, published, pending archive, archived).

When users add their data to the catalogue via a form, they are supposed to choose a state via a "state machine".

The current state machine looks like this as an example for data that is archived:

The issue I'm having is the best way to present the state machine. Right now it's a bit confusing to look at, and has large spaces between states.

My solution is as follows:

Are there any examples out there for something similar? Does this count as a "stepper?" Should I be showing all 5 states at once?

Any feedback is appreciated.

Answer 1

I'm a bit wondering why not use a simple dropdown, which will make an easy way to select one out of 5 steps Or use selection cards