Ask HN: How to make clear and legible diagrams
1 comments
Finding the best tools to represent insight is good.
However, I have found it better to start with thinking about the audience and what I want them to take away.
When you say "clear and readable" I think: "understandable and memorable".
I would recommend focusing first on the content of your message, and then figuring out the form. Tooling, for me, comes last.
Specifically, consider:
* who is your audience * what do you want to convey (and why) * focus on the essentials of your message (too often I see irrelevant detail that undermines impact and recall)
However, I have found it better to start with thinking about the audience and what I want them to take away.
When you say "clear and readable" I think: "understandable and memorable".
I would recommend focusing first on the content of your message, and then figuring out the form. Tooling, for me, comes last.
Specifically, consider:
* who is your audience * what do you want to convey (and why) * focus on the essentials of your message (too often I see irrelevant detail that undermines impact and recall)
Hey, thanks for your comment! I agree that tooling comes last, that's sort of what I was trying to get across.
Those are some good points you brought up. I think they'll be useful next time I need to make a diagram (or even any written communication).
Those are some good points you brought up. I think they'll be useful next time I need to make a diagram (or even any written communication).
I've played around with them and read their tutorials. But what's missing for me is information about what makes a diagram clear and readable. A lot of the examples are inscrutable (or at the very least ambiguous) if you don't know the conventions of the specific diagram used (the meaning of the icons, the arrows, the text inside and outside of boxes, ...).
Are there any resources that cover the basics of diagramming (starting with the simplest flowchart), regardless of the software/medium used? Once you know how to make a clear diagram with pen-and-paper the most interesting work is done and all that's left is (optionally) converting it into digital form.