Library Subject Guides
On this page we'll take a look at how you can communicate data about your project, or even the work of the project itself, visually.
Often, part of the project management process involves user research, stakeholder consultation, and activity design and planning — diagrams will usually be the best way to document and communicate user journeys or technical processes. A visual language called UML (Unified Modeling Language) was created to standardise the visual representation of various components such as decision choices. Whilst you don't have to use UML to diagram processes, a simple flow diagram is often best for purpose. Having access to diagramming tools lets you quickly get everyone on the same page.
Both PowerPoint and Google Slides have diagram design tools built in. The Insert > Shape(s) menu in both applications includes arrows and flowchart components. There's also SmartArt in PowerPoint and a series of Diagram templates in Google Slides.
These are external tools and the University has no licence agreement in place. Use them at your own risk and do not use them with sensitive data.
diagrams.net is a free diagramming tool that has a collection of UML templates, amongst others, and can open Google Drive files. It can also export to a variety of image formats, including SVG, which means you can continue editing your chart with graphical vector editing tools like Inkscape, CorelDRAW Graphics Suite, Adobe Illustrator, or even PowerPoint for Microsoft 365.
Mermaid is an unusual but effective text-to-diagram format where you can create a variety of complex diagrams by defining your diagram in code. From Gantt charts and User Journeys to Quadrant Charts (shown above) and Mindmaps you can create all these charts from a textual format.
If you are designing complex websites and need to plan wireframe diagrams, or you're involved in service design and are creating activity diagrams, then Moqups is a 'freemium' external online tool that may be useful for your planning process.
Google Sheets has a variety of useful charts you can use:
Looker Studio is a Google tool that connects to your Google Sheets and lets you drag and drop various charts and tables into a dashboard report. You can also add controls, such as dropdown menus, date filters and search boxes to make your data searchable and filterable.
Looker Studio is not part of the University's Google licence agreement and so should not be used to handle sensitive data.
We've got more on the principles and practicalities of effective data communication over on our Data Practical Guide:
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