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Summary
This month our DesignOps community was joined by Abby Covert, a founding member of the Design Operations community, and eMcee for DesignOps ‘18. Abby has two decades of making and teaching diagrams to other people. She is currently on a mission to rid the world of bad diagrams, one diagrammer at a time. And we think the DesignOps could learn a thing or five from her about how we could up our diagram game.
Key Insights
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Diagrams can alleviate feelings of being stuck by providing visual representations of complex information.
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The five superpowers of diagrams are stability in volatility, transparency in uncertainty, understanding in complexity, clarity in ambiguity, and kindness when feeling stuck.
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Accessibility in diagramming is critical, especially for diverse audiences including those with visual or cognitive impairments.
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Diagrams should offer both visual representation and alternative content to enhance understanding.
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Not all diagrams work for every audience; context matters deeply in their effectiveness.
Notable Quotes
"Diagrams have been helping people feeling stuck for hundreds if not thousands of years."
"In times of volatility, we seek stability. Diagrams can be like a bridge over the chasm of volatility."
"Diagrams provide transparency when we face uncertainty."
"We can't understand the complexity of everything, and if we try to, we will much more likely fail to understand anything fully at all."
"Diagramming is this kindness that we give to ourselves to get our bearing on something that we're stuck on."
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