Most of us have seen a process map that contains a decision point. In fact that’s one of the main reasons to draw a map in the first place, otherwise an ordered list will do the trick for most instructions.
The decision diamond
At some point the development of process maps the decision
diamond was introduced. It provides us with the following advantages:
- Easily see where a decision point is in the process
- Shows the outcomes (e.g. positive/yes/no)
- Guides us where to go as a result of that outcome
Because of the extensive use of the decision diamond we often do not consider any of the alternative presentation models. There are some disadvantages with this model as well. These include:
- The decision is usually a task in itself, but does not easily show role and supporting information to the reader
- Where multiple outcomes occur, a series of decision diamonds are cascaded on the page, making it very difficult to read and breaks up the visual flow of the page
- Swimlane diagrams make it even more complex, with decision diamonds moving to new vertical and horizontal positions.
Swimlanes and decision diamonds used in a flowchart.
