How to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby Covert

Chapter 3: Face Reality | Page 74

9. Schematic

A schematic is a diagram of an object or interface simplified for the sake of clarity. Schematics are known by many other names including wireframes, sketches, lo-fis, and blueprints.

Since a schematic reduces complexity, unintended errors and ambiguity can be introduced. Would someone understand from the previous schematic to put cheese on top of the tomato sauce? Maybe not.

This is a case where an exploded schematic is useful, because it shows how the individual pieces come together to form the whole.

Chapter 3: Face Reality | Page 76

Try diagramming.

1. Make a block diagram that shows how the pieces of a concept interrelate.
2. Demystify a process by making a flow diagram.
3. Break your latest project down into its individual tasks and make a Gantt chart.
4. Compare a group of restaurants in your neighborhood in a quadrant diagram.
5. Explore what happens when concepts or objects overlap using a Venn diagram.
6. Break any multi-user process into a list of tasks per user with a swim lane diagram.
7. Depict the content and organization of your favorite website in a hierarchy diagram.
8. Unload all of the cool ideas in your mind right now in a mind map.
9. Explain how to make your favorite food with a simple schematic. Bonus point for exploding it!
10. Make a journey map of a day in your life.