use cases

Reviews from real users of diagrams.net and draw.io

The barrier to anyone diagramming and whiteboarding with diagrams.net is lower compared to many other SaaS applications. From reviews and customer feedback, some of the things they like the most include:

• you don’t need to register and it costs nothing
• you can diagram in all major operating systems
• there is an offline desktop version
• you can give your diagram to anyone else and they will be able to load and edit it freely
• you can store unlimited diagram files wherever you prefer
• project development is in the open and anyone can take part

use cases   templates

Ishikawa diagrams for root cause analyses

Ishikawa diagrams, also called fishbone, herringbone or cause and effect diagrams, are used to analyse and identify the root causes of defects or negative events. As most problems have multiple causes, Ishikawa diagrams are a useful prompt to look at the many different contributing factors.

atlassian   use cases

Flowcharts in Confluence

Steps in business processes and project documentation are easier to understand when visualised. As one of the most common families of diagrams, drawing flowcharts in Confluence lets you present complex information neatly and securely in your team and company knowledge base.

features   use cases

Complex diagramming on an online whiteboard

Many people prefer a minimal interface for diagramming, as there are fewer distractions. While online whiteboard applications often have a limited set of available tools, diagrams.net lets you use its advanced features in a less cluttered diagram editor theme.

features   use cases

How to use sketch.diagrams.net as an online whiteboard

This diagrams.net Sketch editor theme has an endless whiteboard-style canvas and is ideal to use as a collaborative online whiteboard with your remote team. The lack of page and grid lines, along with the simple toolbar, minimised panels and the default hand-drawn rough style for shape outlines, shading, connectors, and text labels feels like an informal physical whiteboard, much less intimidating than traditional diagramming apps.

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Plan, design and track projects with diagrams in remote teams

Teams in different departments use many different methods to plan projects, but most of these plans are initially sketched on a whiteboard. Collaborate in real time and online with distributed team members, customers and stakeholders easily in the diagrams.net whiteboard-like editor theme throughout your project development process.

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Draw dependency graphs in diagrams.net

As a type of directed graph, dependency graphs visualise processes or situations where there are dependent components such as in decision making, scheduling, product development, IT or telecommunications infrastructure, supply and manufacturing chains, and more. They help you find the optimal order and identify critical paths or weak links that would constain your application, infrastructure or process.

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Create a remote kanban board with diagrams.net

Kanban boards show the breakdown of large projects into smaller tasks that you prioritise and track as they are completed. Collaborative projects benefit from a kanban board as it helps everyone visualise workflows, the state of the project, and the current workload.

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BPMN 2.0 shapes for detailed process flows and choreography models

Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a standardised diagramming system used to visualise business processes. BPMN diagrams are a form of flowchart, similar to UML activity diagrams. While it is typically used by business analysts and managers, its simple and understandable set of shapes and flows makes it a good choice to document processes for stakeholders in any department.

features   use cases   templates

Work with entity relationship table shapes in diagrams.net

Entity relationship diagrams or ER models in software engineering show the structure of and relationships between database objects. They are used extensively in database modelling to plan new systems, and document existing systems for maintenance and updates.

features   use cases   templates

Use swimlanes with flowcharts to show who does each step

Flowcharts are one of the most common diagram types, showing all of the steps that must be followed to complete a process. Not many processes are limited to just one person or one team, which is why swimlane diagrams and cross-functional flowcharts are used - these show the flow of data or control across different groups.

use cases

Story mapping

User story diagrams are quite strongly related to UML use case diagrams, and both are used in an agile software development context. Both types of diagrams are used to explore and document customer requirements, they identify different groups of users and their goals, but they are used in different ways.

features   use cases

UML 2.5 shape library with updated shapes

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a set of standard symbols and diagram types, commonly used in data modelling, workflow visualisation, and system modelling. UML notation is the defacto industry standard in the fields of software development, IT infrastructure, business systems and other fields. Many languages, such as SysML, SoaML, and a number of architecture frameworks use and extend UML.

features   use cases   templates

Use AWS icons to create a free Amazon architecture diagram

Draw your Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure with diagrams.net for free. You don’t need to register or sign-up, and you can store your diagrams in your favourite cloud storage platforms, like Google Drive, One Drive, and Dropbox.

integrations   features   use cases

Embed a diagram in GitHub markdown

You can use a versioned diagram in a GitHub README file in a number of different ways, and include links to edit the diagram or use it as a template for a new diagram.

use cases

Create C4 models and diagrams

The C4 modelling is used to describe and define architectures in an abstract and simple way. Designed by Simon Brown, C4 is a different way to approach modelling software development which focuses on four c’s: context (people), containers, components, and code.

use cases   integrations

Create diagrams directly in VS Code

Diagrams make coding go a lot smoother, especially when you are programming in teams. Having diagrams version tracked and right with the code they reference, and version tracked similarly in your code editor saves you time. You don’t have to exit your workspace to switch to an external tool, or have to export/import every time you want to update a diagram.

use cases   templates

Create a rack diagram in diagrams.net

diagrams.net has a number of shape libraries and templates for creating rack diagrams. Both electronics cabinets can be visualised, as well as IT racks with servers and networking hardware, including those provided by specific vendors like APC, Cisco, Dell, F5, HP, IBM and Oracle.

use cases   integrations   atlassian

Team diagramming in all departments

All teams have their own unique needs and particular workflows. Integrating useful collaboration tools seamlessly into that workflow is the key to your team’s success. We offer security-first diagramming for teams working with Atlassian products.

integrations   features   use cases

Use Mermaid syntax to create diagrams

Mermaid is a syntax similar to Markdown where you can use text to describe and automatically generate diagrams. With Mermaid’s Markdown-inspired syntax, you can generate flow charts, UML diagrams, pie charts, Gantt charts, and more.

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Network and infrastructure diagrams

Network diagrams, or infrastructure diagrams, let you understand a computer network quickly.

use cases

Use org charts to categorise data and show hierarchies

Org charts, also known as tree diagrams, organisational charts, and organigrams, are used throughout all disciplines and professions. We like to categorise everything as it helps us make sense of how the world works. Species of plants and animals, corporate and military hierarchies, team structures, family trees, language family relationships, even symptoms of illnesses - org charts help us quickly find who to contact, what illness to treat, and so on.

use cases   templates

Create floorplans and layouts

Floorplans aren’t only useful for real-estate agents and people who are moving to a new apartment. You can also plan new office spaces, show emergency routes, create a seating chart, plan a conference or trade show layout - anything where you need to arrange people and furniture in a space.

use cases   templates

How to create a gitflow diagram

It’s easier to show new development team members your project’s branch structure in your Git repository visually than to describe it in words. Some platforms may illustrate this using built-in tools. If you are using a platform without a convenient visual representation, it’s easy to create your own gitflow diagram.

use cases

Analysing vulnerabilities with threat modelling using diagrams.net

Threat modelling, especially in IT, is becoming more common. Companies are increasingly aware of the risks of having their infrastructure and devices connected to the internet. As more devices, machines, sensors, monitors, and applications are added to a company’s infrastructure, there are potentially many more vulnerabilities.

integrations   use cases

Export from Cloudockit to a .drawio diagram

Cloudockit is a platform which connects to and monitors your cloud and on-premises environment and automatically generates 2D or 3D diagrams. It works with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), VMWare Hyper-V, Alibaba Cloud, IBM Cloud, and your local infrastructure to visualise your network and automatically generate documentation.

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Insert from SQL to create an ER diagram

Entity relationship diagrams show how data is structured in relational databases. Each entity consists of rows of attributes. ER diagrams are used in software development and by IT workers to design and document database structure.

integrations   use cases

Use Cloudcraft to export your AWS architecture to a .drawio diagram

Using Cloudcraft, you can securely connect to cloud environments and infrastructure components via your architecture diagrams where statistics, resource information and more is updated in real time. The 3D isometric view that Cloudcraft uses is familiar to engineers and IT staff as it often matches the tools they learned on. The automatic updates driven from your company’s live systems makes Cloudcraft a fantastic tool for monitoring your AWS cloud infrastructure. The statistics are also helpful to estimate costs when you want to make changes to your system.

use cases

diagrams.net supports Veeam stencils

Veaam is an online service that visualises and monitors your cloud and network architectures, and provides a number of additional availability services, including deployment, backup, replication and restoration. It supports Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and IBM Cloud, as well as a variety of workloads, apps, and platforms commonly used by businesses.