How to Diagram
What is this course about?
Most of us were never taught how to make a diagram. We were handed a whiteboard, told to "map it out," and left to figure it out on our own. The result is usually a drawing that makes sense to the person who made it and nobody else.
Diagrams are one of the most useful tools a sensemaker has. Flowcharts, journey maps, schematics, frameworks, canvases, models: these are all diagrams, and there is a real craft behind making them work. This course teaches you that craft, from why diagrams help in the first place, to how to know whether the one you just made is actually any good.
What is the learning objective of this course?
By the end of this course you will be able to make diagrams with intention, assess your own work against clear quality standards, and explain to others why diagramming belongs in any sensemaker's practice.
That includes being able to:
- Recognize when a diagram is the right tool for the problem you are facing
- Follow a simple, repeatable process for making a diagram of anything
- Identify the common elements that show up across almost every diagram type
- Apply nine craft principles to evaluate and improve your own diagrams
- Use a structured self-critique checklist before sharing your work with others
- Talk about diagramming in a way that makes sense to colleagues outside your field
How is this course taught?
- Three recorded video modules, each approximately 30 minutes long, totaling 90 minutes of instruction
- Self-paced: watch on your own schedule, pause and rewatch as needed
- Full written transcripts included for every video
- Downloadable Diagram Critique BINGO Card included
- ePub copy of Stuck? Diagrams Help. by Abby Covert included with every purchase
- Quarterly live diagram critique session included: students join Abby and fellow course-takers to critique their own and each other's diagrams in an interactive BINGO-format session, held on the first Friday of February, May, August, and November
Who was this course designed for?
- You make diagrams at work but you have never been formally taught how, and it shows (to you, at least)
- You have a meeting coming up where you need to get people on the same page and you think a visual would help
- You work in a field where diagrams are expected: design, research, product, engineering, operations, content, data, or teaching
- You are not a visual designer, but you need to communicate visually
- You have made flowcharts, journey maps, process diagrams, frameworks, or org charts and wondered if there was a better way
- You are the person on your team who ends up drawing things on whiteboards, physical or digital
- You want a framework for evaluating whether your diagrams are actually working, not just whether they look clean
- You are self-funding your own professional development, or looking for something you can expense without a long approval process
- Job titles you might have: UX designer, content strategist, information architect, product manager, researcher, operations lead, data analyst, instructional designer, educator, writer, or consultant
Course Outline
Purpose
What diagrams actually do and why they work. Abby introduces the core problems that diagrams solve and the five ways a good diagram helps people get unstuck. This module builds the case for why diagramming is a skill worth taking seriously.
Process
A simple, repeatable process for making a diagram of anything, regardless of tool, industry, or diagram type. This module gives you a shared framework you can apply the next time you are staring at a blank canvas with no idea where to start.
Craft
How to know if your diagram is any good. Abby walks through nine principles of diagrammatic craft and introduces four self-critique checklists you can use to review your work before you share it.
Quarterly Diagram Critique Session
Once you complete the course, you get access to a live quarterly session where students critique real diagrams together using Abby's BINGO Card format. Sessions run on the first Friday of February, May, August, and November.
Who is guiding this course?
"Diagrams have helped people make sense of hard things for thousands of years. Most of us just never got the instruction manual. That is what this course is." — Abby Covert
A community organizer, information architect and sensemakers with twenty years experience helping others make the unclear, clear.
