This is a guest lecture I give at business schools to introduce a basic vocabulary of diagrams to illustrate information.

1. 15 DIAGRAMS
YOU SHOULD KNOW
BEFORE LEAVING
BUSINESS SCHOOL
janice fraser.
janice@luxr.co
For Presidio GSB, Sept 2010

2. WITH DIAGRAMS
YOU CAN
COMPARE THINGS
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

3. THE PIE CHART
compares subjects on one dimension of data
...like market share
Source: Flurry
(c)2010 janice@twotopLABS.com

4. ...or lines of business.
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

5. SCATTER PLOT
Compares items on two dimensions of data.
Good for demonstrating messiness.
Source:: services.alphaworks.ibm.com
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

6. also good for making fun of artists.
source: thisisindexed.com
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

7. TWO X TWO
my favorite
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

8. it’s the King of market positioning.
source: Dave McClure, 500hats.com
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

9. ...and competitive analysis
source: unknown...if it’s you email me and I’ll give attribution.
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

10. COMPARISON CHART
many items, many variables
source: Watt Bike
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

11. ...good for product comparisons
source: unknown...if it’s you email me and I’ll give attribution.
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

12. EXAMINE THE
RELATEDNESS
OF THINGS
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

13. VENN DIAGRAM
source: laughingsquid.com
the classic.
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

14. PROTIP
You want
to be here
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

15. CYCLE DIAGRAM
source: unknown...if it’s you email me and I’ll give attribution.
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

16. shows how components connect
to make a workable system.
source: Eric Reiss, The Lean Startup
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

17. THE VALUE PYRAMID
Pyramid symbol can either represent quantity
source: Dave McClure, 500Hats.com
(top = small, bottom = large)
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

18. ...or the pyramid can represent ideas
like “foundation” and “pinnacle”
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

19. MIND MAPS
help you figure things out
source: unknown...if it’s you, send email and I’ll give attribution
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

20. ...and can communicate a lot of
information, loosely structured, in a
dense format that’s easy to digest.
source: XMind
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

21. PUT THINGS
IN ORDER
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

22. PROCESS DIAGRAM
(This is a process diagram for defining the strategy of a startup.)
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

23. value chain
“this is our
opportunity”
“critical point
of failure”
source: Unknown...if it’s you, send email and I’ll give attribution
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

24. ROOT
CAUSE
MAP
Like a process
diagram, but instead
of sequence,
arrows point away
from causes.
Last one is it.
source: http://www.clarkeching.com/aggressive_schedule_crt-thumb.jpg
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

25. source: http://www.clarkeching.com/aggressive_schedule_crt-thumb.jpg
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

26. COUNT
THINGS
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

27. POWER CURVE
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

28. Power curve of men who would date an 18-
year-old woman, mapped by age
source: blog.okcupid.com
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

29. Power curve of contributions to UGC
websites, by effort required.
source: Ross Mayfield, Chairman, Social Text
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

30. THE BELL CURVE
can help you describe identify outliers
source: edgehopper.com
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

31. and regular liars.
source: blog.okcupid.com
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

32. HISTOGRAM
is a bar chart for counting things.
source: Flickr, Phil Gyford
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

33. “ROI” of User Experience Projects
GENERIC BAR CHARTS
can be very revealing.
source: nngroup.com/reports
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

34. UP-AND-TO-THE-RIGHT
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

35. For showing audience growth.
source: “Glam Media $200M Private Placement”
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

36. For showing revenue growth.
source: unknown...if it’s you email me and I’ll give attribution.
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

37. source: unknown...if it’s you email me and I’ll give attribution.
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

38. source: unknown...if it’s you email me and I’ll give attribution.
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

39. for poking holes in business models.
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

40. Cause or effect?
“I’m gonna cut myself
with this Lexus key.”
source: thisisindexed.com
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com

41. THANKS
Y’ALL
source: thisisindexed.com
(c)2010, janice@twotopLABS.com