Target Group: Admins, Devs, Architects
Complexity: High
For years I was intimated by these Flow-Charts, UMLs, swimlanes or Class diagrams. I tried creating them a few times but failed miserably and eventually gave up.
During my #journeyToCTA, I realized: I can create diagrams. Maybe not “standard” ones but some that work for me and the judges in the end.
What made it click for me:
1) Just start
2) Pick what feels right to me
3) Single responsibility
4) Keep it simple
1) Just start
Looking at my first attempts, painful and slow. It gets better over time. Any diagram is better than none.
2) Pick what feels right to me
For me, PPT is the preferred tool, especially for internal diagrams. I’m pretty good with PPT and the limited space on a slide forces me to focus.
For special occasions like flowcharts, I use LucidCharts.
3) Single responsibility: One diagram for one purpose
I never could figure out what details to put on a digram. Often I ended up with a convoluted mess.
Focusing was the game-changer for me. Focus starts by asking: Who’s the audience for the diagram and what do they want to get out of it?
A diagram needs to be good enough for the target audience and purpose and nothing else, especially not some imaginary “diagram judge”. Often I have different diagrams of the same thing for different audiences or purposes.
4) Keep it simple
If it doesn’t fit on a slide it’s too complex for me. I rather create a second slide/page/sub-diagram than something gigantic and intimidating…
Example:
Target audience: Me
Goal: Document LWC Component communication
Detail:
The slide below shows the communication schematic of one sub-part of Easy-CPQ.
While it’s not beautiful and only has limited details it serves exactly the purpose it was supposed to: Show the communication between components for Product-Select.
PS: I’m sure, there’s great value in knowing the official UMS, swimlanes… and it’s on my list of things to learn!
