Bad diagrams are like long articles with no headlines, no formatting, and no punctuation! This is the first in a series intended to raise the quality of diagrams across the board. It was inspired by a post by Alan Inglis back in June on his Chief Architect blog entitled: Complex diagrams = bad architecture. As I read his post I found my head nodding in agreement, then cheering him on, and finally said to myself, “Somebody ought to do something about this!” At that moment I recalled something a colleague once said to me, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”
In this post we’ll name a few things all bad diagrams have in common. We’ll also explore their far-reaching effect. I’ll conclude with a call to action intended for three influential groups of people that have the power to put a stop to bad diagrams and help me in my mission to Raise the Bar on Bad Diagrams.
In future posts I’ll share the main themes of a paper I am currently writing entitled: Making Sense Out of Chaos: The Anatomy of an Effective Diagram. Won’t you join me by adding your comments and thoughts on this vitally important subject?