Raising the Bar on Bad Diagrams

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?

What All Bad Diagrams Have In Common

I find that bad diagrams all have at least three things in common:

1. They all lack a purpose
2. They all are drawn with no particular audience in mind
3. They are all devoid of any elements of good visual architecture

Lacking Purpose

A bad diagram is not clear in its purpose. Nothing seems to stand out. I find them analagous to a large document with no formatting. That's right. No headlines, subtitles, indentation. Nothing. It is up to the reader to figure out what the author was intending to say.

Bad diagrams are similar in that they also leave the conclusion and purpose up to the viewer; a dangerous state of affairs in today's corporate world.

Who's the Audience?

I have written many times on this blog about the importance of considering who will be viewing the diagram. Knowing your audience and the purpose for your diagram will arm you with what you need to know to create a compelling, powerful diagram.

Lacking Good Visual Architecture

I've also noticed that all bad diagrams seem to violate from few to many elements of good visual architecture. This is one of Andy's points. Consider how this diagram will be viewed, on a laptop or a wall? The visual architecture chosen needs to consider this and many other things that we'll be covering in the paper referred to earlier.

Far-reaching Effect of Bad Diagrams

The reach of bad diagrams go far beyond the people creating them and in the era they were born. I have been surprised in my career as to how far diagrams reach inside and outside the organization. I have been equally amazed at how long they can stay in circulation, sometimes years! Nevertheless they all seem to:

• Increase stress and conflict in and out of the organization
• Wastes enormous amounts of time by people trying to make sense out of them
• Propagate misinformation at an exponential rate the worse they are

Given the drag they put on individuals and organizations, what shall we do?

Call to Action

Three groups of people have the power to make a dramatic improvement in the quality of diagrams being created in organizations. I have a few simple suggestions for each below:

• Educators - Teach simple visual architecture principles in your classes along with your regular curriculum
• Managers - Mentor team members on good diagramming practices and raise the bar in your organization. If you aren't familiar with these practices, find a member of your team to help you.
• Practitioners - Spend a little more time planning and thinking about your diagram before beginning the drawing.

Let's all work together to see if we can raise the bar just a bit and experience the benefits of better diagrams in our organizations.

Please take a few minutes and add your comments to mine. What do you see as common characteristics of bad diagrams? Do you have a success story you could share?

Comments

[Heather]

Bill:
Your post raises several questions for me, the worst of which is, "How often have I been the perpetrator of confusion with the diagrams I've used to teach?" I'm also left hoping that there's more to come. For example, what's the architecture of a good visual? I think we know a good diagram when we see it--it seems a seamless part of what we're learning--but how do we create that synergy between visual, and words?

I'm looking forward to Part II.

Thanks,
Heather