Draw Smartly
A picture is said to be worth a thousand words. A good picture is priceless.
In my line of work I often find myself in need to describe processes, dynamics, and interactions, to help me, and the people I work with, to understand the systems they are part of better. Understanding the reality you operate in, and the way you can affect it, is the first step toward making an improvement and building a better reality.
For me, as the facilitator of this process, one of the greatest challenges is describing this reality accurately. I am, of course, not the first one to come across this challenge. In his book The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge introduced system diagrams as an aid for describing complex systems. Gerald Weinberg suggested diagram of effects as a medium that can help us “grasp how things interact” in his book Quality Software Management. And, of course, there are the more traditional workflow diagrams, flow charts, and others. Each of these tools offers a way to express a certain aspect of our complex reality.
Now, I know some people prefer a simple whiteboard as the ultimate sketching tool. And indeed, in some cases a whiteboard is the most effective tool for making the first steps in creating an effective diagram. But I have to admit, I for one love fancy tools (as long as they help me deliver better results). And when it comes to making a visual impact, I am not going to settle for a whiteboard.
This is why I was thrilled to come across SmartDraw 2007. SmartDraw is great for a couple of reasons. The most noticeable one is that within a couple of minutes you can create impressive diagrams that really make an impact. After about a month of using it, I can safely say that people just love the result. The diagrams are so attractive and diverse that people just can’t get enough of them. But this fact doesn’t come at the expense of the real value the diagrams have. SmartDraw makes it easier for you to create diagrams that carry vast amount of information, and still draw people’s attention to where you want it.
But maybe the greatest thing about SmartDraw is the fact that I can create my own object libraries. I can create, for example, a library for diagram of effects with reusable diagram parts and objects. So now, whenever I need to create a new diagram of effects, I have all the building blocks ready for use.
What more can I say? It’s easy, professional, and… smart.
November 20th, 2006 at 11:07 am
Thanks for the post. I’m always looking for better graph software. I’m in full agreement that a good visual diagram is the simplest way to convey information.
When I don’t have anything on the computer I’m on I’ll use Gliffy (http://www.gliffy.com)
You’ve probably already read this, but if not you should check out this post on Creating Passionate Users: http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/11/add_graphics_to.html