10 Excalidraw Tips Every Business Analyst Should Know
Ten small Excalidraw habits that make your sketches faster to draw and easier to read. Shortcut keys, boxes sized for the words, glued arrows, labelled paths, moving and relabelling shapes, and colour with a purpose, on a made-up leave request flow.
Step by step
Ten small habits
- 10 Excalidraw tips. These 10 habits make Excalidraw sketches faster to draw and easier to read. We use them one at a time to sketch a simple leave request flow.
- excalidraw.com. Go to excalidraw.com in your browser and start with an empty canvas.
Draw faster
- Shortcut keys. Tip 1: use the shortcut keys. R draws a rectangle, D a diamond, A an arrow and T text. Hover over any tool in the toolbar to see its key.
- Size for the words. Tip 2: drag the rectangle wide enough for its words, then type Submit request inside it. The label stays on one line instead of wrapping.
- Short questions. Tip 3: a diamond is a decision, so keep its text to a short question. Draw a diamond and type Approved?
- Glue the arrows. Tip 4: drag an arrow from the edge of the Submit request box to the edge of the diamond. Both ends stick to the shapes, so the arrow follows when you move them.
Tidy layout
- Line it up. If the manager says yes, the leave is booked. Draw a Book leave box to the right of the diamond, level with the other shapes. If the answer is no, the request is rejected. Draw a Reject box below the diamond. Here it lands a bit off to the side. Tip 5: don't redraw a shape that is in the wrong spot. Drag it instead. Move the Reject box straight under the diamond, so the paths read cleanly.
Clear paths
- Label the paths. Tip 6: label every path out of a decision. Draw an arrow from the diamond to Book leave, press Enter and type Yes. Then draw an arrow straight down from the diamond to the Reject box and label it No.
- Fix a label. Tip 7: Reject is vague. Click the box, press Enter and type a clearer step: Tell employee. The box stays where it is, and its arrows stay attached.
Colour with a purpose
- Colour decisions. Tip 8: draw everything first, then add colour. Select the Approved? diamond and pick a soft yellow background in the panel on the left.
- Red for exceptions. Tip 9: give the exception path a red outline. Select the Tell employee box and pick a red stroke colour, so people spot it in the meeting.
- Step back. Tip 10: click an empty spot to clear the selection, then read the sketch like a stranger would. If they couldn't follow it without you, fix it.
Recap
- The ten tips. In short: use the keys, size boxes for their words, ask short questions, glue and label your arrows, drag instead of redrawing, fix vague labels, and add a little colour last.
Common mistakes
- Arrows that end near a shape but not on it. If the arrow end isn't attached, it stays behind when you move the shape. Drag the end onto the shape until the shape's outline highlights, then let go.
- Typing a separate text box on top of a shape. Loose text doesn't move with the box, so the sketch falls apart when you tidy it. Select the shape and press Enter to type inside it.
- Decision paths with no labels. Two plain arrows out of Approved? make people guess which one means yes. Select each arrow, press Enter and type Yes or No.
- Adding colour while still drawing. Random colours added early end up meaning nothing. Finish the flow first, then use colour for one job only, such as yellow for decisions and red for exceptions.
When a business analyst uses this
In a discovery workshop about how staff book leave, a business analyst shares their screen and sketches the current process live in Excalidraw. Labelled Yes/No paths and a red exception box help the group spot missing steps before the analyst redraws it as a formal process map.
Questions people ask
How do I make arrows stick to shapes in Excalidraw?
Start and end the arrow on the edge of each shape, so the shape highlights before you let go. The arrow then stays attached and follows when you move the shapes.
How do I add a label to an arrow in Excalidraw?
Select the arrow, press Enter and type the label, such as Yes or No. The text sits on the arrow and moves with it.
How do I change the text in an Excalidraw shape?
Click the shape, press Enter and type the new text. The shape and its arrows stay where they are, so you don't need to redraw anything.
