subject: What The Heck Is A Flow Diagram Anyway? by:Bradley L [print this page] A flow diagram is a representation, usually visual, of a particular type of data through a system. Flow diagrams can also be used for the visualization of data processing. Usually, there are several forms of general flow diagrams: Data flow diagrams, graphical flow diagrams, and process diagrams. Often the descriptions and uses of the diagrams are used interchangeably, although technically speaking there may be very slight differences, they are usually minute and semantic in nature. The usual determinant is that if a user is using either text or graphics to lay out a step by step procedure or process, it will be shown to come under one of the above categories.
Data flow diagrams often use graphics to show the flow of information, or data, through a system. Graphical representations are usually much easier to follow for many users, who are used to the point and click nature of computers. A lesson of a graphical representation would be a very popular representation known as a Mind Map. Mind Maps have been used for a number of years, and their use has become huge with the advent of Mind map software programs. Mind Maps are a unique fusion of both text and graphics in highly memorable ways, and are used most frequently for secondary and college students, as well as business data flow diagrams.
Flow diagrams are used throughout many fields and industries, most often those with a scientific or engineering predilection. Many highly technical fields teach users in these fields the use of flow processes to organize and systematize their thought processes.
Medical uses of flow processes or diagrams include medical software to patient throughput to disease process progression. Often these are true data flow diagrams, as opposed to the sole graphical representations used in other fields. Flow process diagrams have helped tremendously in the progression and treatment of diseases and patient care, as well as the formulation of current protocols, billing procedures, etc.
Information system flow diagrams are usually comprised of either text or graphics, or a combination of the two. They most often show the flow of data through a closed information system, i.e. a computer system network or work flow process, say a telephone call routing system. Many users of flow processes use them on a daily basis, including network workers, internet commerce technicians, and website designers and marketers.
The military/industrial complex is another very large group of users that has reaped the benefits of using process diagrams. A plethora of military training and field manuals identify procedures and protocols with text and graphic representations to show the needy researcher, in a step-by-step manner, the quickest and most efficient route to perform a particular task.
Although there are many terms and acronyms for specific types process diagrams today, computer software has become the behemoth that has assisted in the exponential growth of flow data diagrams. What used to take a user many hours of production time, re-writes for changes in processes, etc, in the past, has come down to the point where one knowledgeable user with the right software can come up with a complete flow diagram which is highly professional and attractive, in an afternoon.. Process flow diagrams have been used extensively for a number of years in many fields and technical disciplines, and with the advent and common availability of flow process software, this usage will only grow exponentially.
