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Mermaid for Business Analysts

Mermaid draws diagrams from text. Instead of dragging boxes and arrows, you type a few short lines, such as "Customer --> Checkout", and Mermaid draws the diagram for you. It is free, and many tools business analysts already use can show Mermaid diagrams, including GitHub, GitLab and several wiki and notes tools. These tutorials use the free Mermaid Live Editor in the browser.

Why text diagrams help a BA

A text diagram is quick to change: rename a step in one place and the drawing updates. It fits in a requirements document or a pull request, and you can see exactly what changed between two versions. It also works well with AI chat tools, which can write a first draft of the Mermaid text from your notes; the lesson on generating diagrams with AI shows how to check and fix that draft rather than trusting it.

What you will learn

Flowcharts first, including decisions and subgraphs used as swimlanes. Then sequence diagrams for how systems and people talk to each other, including alternative paths and loops. Then data and structure: ER diagrams, class diagrams and context diagrams. There are also Gantt charts for simple plans, state diagrams, user journeys, mind maps, and a BPMN-style process and use-case-style diagram for when a team wants those ideas in text form.

Where to start

Start with flowchart basics in the Live Editor. Within a few minutes you will have a working diagram and understand the pattern every other Mermaid diagram follows: choose a diagram type on the first line, then describe the parts and the links. Mermaid lays the diagram out for you, which is fast but gives you less control over where each box goes. When exact layout matters, for a slide or a printed process map, the Mermaid vs draw.io and Visio lesson helps you choose.

The videos

22 videos, in the order we suggest watching them.

Mermaid Flowchart Tutorial: Your First Process Map Mermaid Sequence Diagram for a Login Flow Mermaid ER Diagram: Customers, Orders and Products Mermaid State Diagram: Order Status Lifecycle Mermaid Gantt Chart for a Project Plan Mermaid for Business Analysts: Diagrams From Plain Text Generate a Mermaid Diagram With AI (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) Mermaid Diagram Types Every BA Should Know What Is a Mermaid Diagram? (And Why BAs Should Care) Mermaid Live Editor Tour: Write, Preview, Share From Requirements Text to a Mermaid Flow in 5 Minutes Swimlanes in Mermaid With Subgraphs Decisions and Loops in a Mermaid Flowchart System Context Diagram in Mermaid Mermaid Class Diagram for a Domain Model As-Is vs To-Be Process Map in Mermaid BPMN-Style Process Map in Mermaid Mermaid User Journey Map for Customer Onboarding Mermaid Mindmap for Brainstorming Requirements Mermaid Sequence Diagram: alt, opt and loop Blocks Mermaid vs draw.io vs Visio: Which Should a BA Use? Use Case Diagram in Mermaid (The Simple Workaround)