draw.io Tutorial for Business Analysts: Your First Flowchart
draw.io is a free diagram tool that runs in your browser, with no account. Learn the basics a business analyst needs: drag shapes from the Shapes panel, connect them with the blue arrows, type labels, label the paths out of a decision and colour a shape, using an online shop order flow.
Step by step
Free diagrams in the browser
- draw.io for BAs. draw.io is a free diagram tool. It runs in your browser and needs no account, so you can draw a process map without Visio. Here we build the order flow for an online shop.
- app.diagrams.net. Go to app.diagrams.net and start a blank diagram. The shapes are in the panel on the left, and the big grid in the middle is your page.
Shapes and labels
- Drag a shape. Drag an ellipse from the General shapes onto the page. This is the start. While it's selected, just type Order received and it becomes the label. A rectangle is a step. Drop one to the right of the start and type Check payment.
Connect the steps
- Connect. To connect two shapes, hover over Order received until blue arrows appear. Drag an arrow onto Check payment and draw.io joins them with a line.
- Decision. A diamond is a decision. Drop one after Check payment and type a short question: Payment OK?
- Connect. Connect Check payment to the Payment OK? diamond the same way: hover, then drag the blue arrow onto it.
Label the paths
- Label the paths. If the payment is OK, the order ships. Drop a rectangle to the right of the diamond and type Ship order. Connect the diamond to Ship order, then double-click the line and type Yes. Every path out of a decision needs a label. If the payment fails, the shop asks the customer for a new card. Drop a rectangle under the diamond and type Ask for new card. Connect the diamond to Ask for new card and label this line No.
- Loop back. After a new card, the payment is checked again. Drag a line from the left side of Ask for new card back to Check payment. This makes a loop.
Finish the flow
- The end. Every path must end somewhere. Drop an ellipse under Ship order and type Order shipped. Connect Ship order down to Order shipped.
- Colour. To make the decision stand out, select the Payment OK? diamond, click the fill colour in the toolbar and pick a soft yellow (#FFF2CC).
- The finished flow. Click an empty spot on the page to clear the selection and see the finished flow: 1 start, 1 decision with labelled Yes and No paths, a loop back, and 1 end.
Recap
- The rules. The rules: drag shapes from the left, hover and drag the blue arrow to connect, and just type to label. Label every path out of a decision.
Common mistakes
- Unlabelled lines out of a decision. A diamond with two plain lines doesn't say which way is which. Double-click each line and type the answer, like Yes and No.
- A path that goes nowhere. Every path needs an end or a loop back. Here the Yes path ends at Order shipped and the No path loops back to Check payment.
- Dropping the arrow next to a shape, not on it. If you let go of the blue arrow on empty space, the line isn't joined to the next shape. Drag it right onto the shape so the two are connected.
- A long sentence inside the diamond. Ask one short question that has clear answers, like Payment OK?. Put the work itself in rectangles before or after the decision.
When a business analyst uses this
In a process workshop, a business analyst can draw the current order process live in draw.io while the team talks it through. Labelling every Yes and No path shows the gaps, like a failed payment with no next step, so they can be fixed before the process is signed off.
Questions people ask
Is draw.io free?
Yes. draw.io is free and runs in your browser at app.diagrams.net, so you don't need Visio to make a flowchart.
Do I need an account to use draw.io?
No. Open app.diagrams.net, start a blank diagram and begin dragging shapes onto the page.
How do I connect shapes in draw.io?
Hover over a shape until blue arrows appear, then drag an arrow onto the next shape. draw.io joins the 2 shapes with a line.
