I'm sure at least once in your life you’ve thrown together a quick sketch or drawing on a scrap of paper, or maybe a napkin, to communicate an idea and help someone understand you more easily, right? Visual aids, no matter how makeshift, are always a great help.
Well, that doodle on that wrinkled napkin that probably ended up in the trash may have been a diagram! When you want to convey complex ideas and make sure people understand you, a good diagram can save the day. And if it’s an interactive diagram, that's even better!
What is a diagram?
Diagrams are visual and schematic representations of information. The objective of a diagram is to simplify. Processes, timelines, workflows, and systems, for example, all become much easier to explain and understand when the information is displayed in a diagram and communication is supported by visual resources.
In general, in a diagram, the main ideas are represented within boxes or other geometric shapes, which are connected to each other by arrows or straight lines to show the relationship between them. Diagrams are useful in any context in which information is conveyed for any purpose.
As I previously talked about in this post about how to present data, what captures people’s attention most is movement, colors, big objects, and contrast. That’s why the design of diagrams, which is based on shapes, simple lines, and color contrasts, is so effective.
For example, timelines are a very popular type of diagram; they’re ideal for displaying a series of events or the steps in a process. Mind maps and concept maps are other types of commonly-used diagrams.
Diagrams are one of the tools used in data visualization, a fundamental technique in the era of big data, and it has never been more important to simplify information when it comes to communicating. Diagrams help to put the large amounts of data that we handle nowadays in order. A simple, well-thought-out diagram can explain even the most complex information or process.
And what’s an interactive diagram?
It’s a diagram that includes elements that people can interact with. And that’s what makes it great, because if you create an interactive diagram, you can add as many ideas as you want without making your design too complicated, and also, the information becomes an experience.
When you create a diagram, you need to simplify the information as much as possible. But, of course, you run the risk of leaving out important things. On the other hand, if you try to cover everything, in the end it can get too complicated, and the diagram will not fulfill its purpose, which is to help people understand things.
Thanks to interactive elements, you can distribute the information on several levels and add everything you need while at the same time maintaining a clean design.
Create your interactive diagram with Genially! You already know that we are THE interactivity specialists. You can include interactive elements without having to know how to program and add animation effects to make your diagrams even more eye-catching. Remember when we said that movement is the first thing the human eye perceives? Well, now you know: add animations to catch all the eyes!
In Genially, you’ll find many templates that include the most common diagram models in the business world. With these templates, you can create amazing interactive diagrams in just a few minutes.
8 types of useful diagrams and when to use them in your company
What information do you want to illustrate? If you have numerical data, using graphs and charts is a good idea. Diagrams are generally used to show qualitative data—non-numeric data that expresses non-quantifiable characteristics—although you can also show a mixture of both types of data in a diagram.
Here’s how to use the different types of interactive diagrams in your communication efforts:
1. Venn Diagram
Is it the simplest of diagrams? Yes, but only when it involves a few elements. As simple as it is effective, the Venn diagram is the most visual way to represent the relationship between two or more things.
They are widely used in presentations as they allow us to illustrate information very clearly.
Use the Venn diagram when you want to represent the differences or similarities between different ideas or elements.
2. Ishikawa or Fishbone Diagram
The Ishikawa diagram was created in 1943 and is used in corporate environments to identify and resolve problems or improve processes.
It’s the perfect tool for detecting bottlenecks and uncovering the roots of a problem in a visual way. It’s used a lot in industry, operations, and quality control. in a factory’s production process:
3. Bow-tie funnel
This double funnel in the shape of a bow tie (hence the name) is a more comprehensive version of the classic sales funnel, which represents the entire process. The CLTV, or customer lifetime value, which is the period of time a person spends as a customer of a company, does not end with the sale, and this is what the bow tie diagram reflects. The sale is at the center, and then comes the customer retention strategy.
4. Porter’s Five Forces Diagram
This diagram, created by economist Michael Porter in the late 1970s, helps you understand the dynamics of the market in which you want to compete and helps you define your competitive strategy.
The Porter’s Forces diagram is extremely useful at any time in a company’s lifetime, as it not only
5. Organizational chart
On this list of the most used diagrams in business, we couldn’t possibly leave out the humble org chart, which may be the most well-known of all.
An organization chart is a graphic representation of the departments and people that make up the company.
6. Gantt diagram
A Gantt chart is a chronogram, meaning it is a visual representation of a project’s activities and expected start and end dates. It is a project management tool.
Use the Gantt chart to plan and display the tasks in a project and the time frames for the different teams involved.
7. SWOT
There can be no project without a SWOT analysis! This widespread analytical tool is considered essential when analyzing the situation of a company or a project.
SWOT is the acronym for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
A SWOT table shows the analysis of the internal and external factors affecting the company, both favorable and limiting for the business.
A SWOT analysis allows us to establish an initial diagnosis that will serve as the basis for a strategy as well as aid in decision-making.
8. Process diagram
What cannot be seen does not exist, or it may as well not exist, and this also applies to business processes. The process or flow diagram is a graphical representation of all the processes that take place in a company, the order in which they are carried out, and also the relationship that exists between them.
With this type of diagram, you can visualize the workflow to help understand its operation, detect problems, and improve management.