Open your eyes to diagrams

October 2014

Dr Daniel MoodyAre you a technical writer or a technical communicator? Dr Daniel Moody says you should think of yourself as the latter – and not limit yourself just to words.

It’s vital for technical communicators to think visually, he says, and in a recent TechCommNZ webinar he explained how to make sure you present the right information in the right format for the right audience.

Why use diagrams?

We learn to draw long before we learn to write, and most people still think visually. Indeed, 36% of people are predominantly visual thinkers; if all we present is text, we’re not communicating with them.

But it’s not one or the other. By effectively using words and images we can maximise the stickability of our information.

How and when to use diagrams

There is one thing diagrams do really well: show relationships. The classic example is a family tree – complex family relationships can be really difficult to explain in words, but put them on a family tree and they become clear.

Which style of diagram?

Graphs show quantitative relationships, and the rules for what graphs to use, and when, are well understood.

Diagrams, however, show qualitative relationships, and there are thousands of different templates out there. It’s easy to get confused about which ones to use.

Dr Moody outlined the seven (yes, just seven!) diagrams that show just about every relationship we’ll ever need to explain. If we stick to these seven we’ve covered our bases. They are:

  • Fishbone, cause-effect or Ishikawa diagram (cause and effect)
  • Tree diagram (composition and classification)
  • Mind map (also composition and classification)
  • Landscape diagram (another composition and classification alternative)
  • Process chart (process and sequence)
  • Decision tree (showing decision-making process and alternatives)
  • Argument map (seldom published, but used to show a chain of logic).

This was an enlightening, and empowering presentation. Dr Moody blew away the myth that you have to be good at art to present information visually – indeed, he says, if you spend too much time on the aesthetics, you’re probably not concentrating enough on communication.

Dr Moody is giving a presentation and running a workshop at the TechCommNZ conference later this month, in which he’ll explain the universal principles for producing effective diagrams. If his webinar is any indication, these promise to be hugely important for technical communicators who want to present information as effectively and efficiently as possible. You can register here.

Ashley Campbell