Visual Instruments

Choosing the right diagram for the story you want to tell

Before you open PowerPoint or Canva, it helps to know what kind of relationship you are trying to show. Is it a sequence of steps, a loop, a comparison, a hierarchy, an overlap, a web of connections, or several things working towards one outcome?
The Diagram Picker below starts from exactly that question: choose the sentence closest to your idea and it shows the diagram types that fit, with a short note on when each one works best. It takes a minute, and it may save you from the Venn diagram that should have been a table.