Principles of Design Diagramming

Modern enterprise IT infrastructure consists of a huge number of objects described by a myriad of characteristics. Connections and interdependencies between them are complicated. Therefore, IT solutions designers must consider and handle a massive amount of information, analyze it, and present it to the stakeholders. Usually these are quite heavy tasks. To increase quality and speed of data investigation and representation, designers use different tools. One of the most efficient and proven tools is diagram.

Too often, this extremely helpful tool is not used to its full potential. Further, poor diagrams confuse the designer and customers or require too much effort to understand, which significantly reduces the benefit.

In this Knowledge Sharing—awarded Best of Architecture in the 2015 Knowledge Sharing Competition—Vasily Pantyukhin focuses on methods to accelerate and improve the process of diagram development. He establishes the basic principles of efficient diagramming, describes the main types of diagrams used in IT solutions design, discusses different ways to present information, and considers methods of objects’ unity and variations. Additionally, the difference between exploratory and explanatory diagramming is determined, along with a discussion on how diagrams should be professionally used in different contexts of task or problem.

The principles, techniques, and tricks described in Vasily’s article are proven by years of actual project design. Mainly focused on ViPR planning, implementation, and troubleshooting in the EMEA region, Vasily developed and used many of the diagrams included in this article.

The article will be most relevant to IT architects, pre-sales consultants, and other professionals involved in solutions development and presentation.

Read the full article here.