Communication Patterns

Chapter 5. Notation

When you create diagrams, you might use a standard notation, such as Unified Modeling Language (UML) or Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), or a nonstandard notation (for example, your own, or a corporate standard of boxes and lines).¹

You may not think much about the notation you use or, conversely, spend far too long deciding on one. This chapter covers several antipatterns that will guide you to see where a standard or nonstandard notation could reduce the likelihood of successful communication with your audience.

Using Icons to Convey Meaning

Using icons to convey meaning is an antipattern that has arisen from cloud provider icons becoming an almost formal notation. Before the cloud, people rarely created diagrams using technology icons such as SQL Server, Java, or Python and definitely did not do so without using labels. But now cloud provider documentation is full of diagrams showing icons representing their versions of data stores, serverless functions, and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings, among other things.

Warning

Cloud provider icon sets are frequently updated for various reasons, including for new services. Different versions are available to use directly in diagramming applications, such as draw.io. Use clear labels and be explicit about the version or type of the service to avoid confusion if the icon changes in the future.

Using technology icons in a diagram isn’t bad in itself, but using them as the only form of communication ...