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. Excalidraw is great for quick sketches in a workshop. But a few small habits make your sketches faster to draw and much easier to read. Here's the leave request flow we'll sketch, one tip at a time.
- excalidraw.com. Open excalidraw.com and start with an empty canvas.
Draw faster
- Shortcut keys. Tip one. Every tool has a key. R for rectangle, D for diamond, A for arrow, T for text. The small letter next to each tool in the toolbar is its key.
- Size for the words. Tip two. Drag the box wide enough for its words, so the label stays on one line. Submit request.
- Short questions. Tip three. A diamond is a decision, so keep its text a short question. Approved?
- Glue the arrows. Tip four. Drag arrows from the edge of one shape to the edge of the next. Both ends stick, so the arrow follows when shapes move.
Tidy layout
- Line it up. If the manager says yes, the leave is booked. Add that box on the right, level with the others. If the answer is no, the request is rejected. Drop a quick box for that below. It landed a bit off to the side. Tip five. Don't redraw a shape that sits in the wrong spot. Just drag it. Move the box straight under the diamond, so the paths read cleanly.
Clear paths
- Label the paths. Tip six. Every path out of a decision gets a label. Draw the arrow to book leave, press Enter and type yes. Now an arrow straight down from the diamond to the lower box, and label it no.
- Fix a label. Tip seven. Reject is vague. Click the box, press Enter, and type a clearer step. Tell employee.
Colour with a purpose
- Colour decisions. Tip eight. Draw everything first, then add colour. Select the diamond and pick a soft yellow background in the panel on the left.
- Red for exceptions. Tip nine. Give the exception path a red outline, so people spot it in the meeting.
- Step back. Tip ten. Click an empty spot and read the sketch like a stranger would. Can they follow it without you?
Recap
- The ten tips. So, use the keys, size boxes for their words, ask short questions, glue and label your arrows, drag instead of redraw, fix vague labels, and add a little colour last.
