Visual Thinking with Flowcharts

Description: Creating Flowcharts in Microsoft Word

This module teaches you how to create clear, professional flowcharts directly within Microsoft Word—without needing specialized diagramming software. Flowcharts are powerful tools for visualizing processes, workflows, decision-making paths, and systems, and Microsoft Word offers a range of built-in tools to design them effectively.

Through hands-on guidance, you'll learn how to use SmartArt, Shapes, Connectors, and Formatting tools to create various types of flowcharts including process charts, decision trees, workflow diagrams, and system flows. The lessons emphasize clarity, consistency, and practical application—perfect for students, educators, business professionals, and anyone who wants to communicate ideas visually within Word documents.

This is especially useful for users who frequently prepare reports, manuals, project documentation, or presentations in Word and want to enhance them with visual thinking tools.

What You Will Learn:

• How to design flowcharts using Shapes and SmartArt in Word

• Customizing connectors, arrows, and layout for readability

• Aligning and organizing flowchart elements with precision

• Tips to make your flowcharts visually professional and effective

• Embedding flowcharts seamlessly into documents and reports

Flowchart Tutorial (with Symbols, Guide and Examples)

• Flowchart Tutorial (with Symbols, Guide and Examples)

• What is a Flowchart?

• Flowchart Symbols

• Terminator

• Document

• Decision

• Data

• On-Page Reference

• Off-Page Reference

• Delay or Bottleneck

• Flow

• When to Draw Flowchart?

• Flowchart examples

• Flowchart Example – Medical Service

• Flowchart Example – Simple Algorithms

• Flowchart Example – Calculate Profit and Loss

• Creating a Flowchart in Visual Paradigm

A flowchart is simply a graphical representation of steps. It shows steps in sequential order and is widely used in presenting the flow of algorithms, workflow or processes. Typically, a flowchart shows the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting them with arrows.

What is a Flowchart?

A flowchart is a graphical representations of steps. It was originated from computer science as a tool for representing algorithms and programming logic but had extended to use in all other kinds of processes. Nowadays, flowcharts play an extremely important role in displaying information and assisting reasoning. They help us visualize complex processes, or make explicit the structure of problems and tasks. A flowchart can also be used to define a process or project to be implemented.

Flowchart Symbols

Different flowchart shapes have different conventional meanings. The meanings of some of the more common shapes are as follows:

Terminator

The terminator symbol represents the starting or ending point of the system.

Process

A box indicates some particular operation.

Document

This represents a printout, such as a document or a report.

Decision

A diamond represents a decision or branching point. Lines coming out from the diamond indicates different possible situations, leading to different sub-processes.

Data

It represents information entering or leaving the system. An input might be an order from a customer. Output can be a product to be delivered.

On-Page Reference

This symbol would contain a letter inside. It indicates that the flow continues on a matching symbol containing the same letter somewhere else on the same page.

Off-Page Reference

This symbol would contain a letter inside. It indicates that the flow continues on a matching symbol containing the same letter somewhere else on a different page.

Delay or Bottleneck

Identifies a delay or a bottleneck.

Flow

Lines represent the flow of the sequence and direction of a process.

When to Draw Flowchart?

Using a flowchart has a variety of benefits:

• It helps to clarify complex processes.

• It identifies steps that do not add value to the internal or external customer, including delays; needless storage and transportation; unnecessary work, duplication, and added expense; breakdowns in communication.

• It helps team members gain a shared understanding of the process and use this knowledge to collect data, identify problems, focus discussions, and identify resources.

• It serves as a basis for designing new processes.

Flowchart examples

Here are several flowchart examples. See how you can apply a flowchart practically.

Flowchart Example – Medical Service

This is a hospital flowchart example that shows how clinical cases shall be processed. This flowchart uses decision shapes intensively in representing alternative flows.

Flowchart Example – Simple Algorithms

A flowchart can also be used in visualizing algorithms, regardless of its complexity. Here is an example that shows how flowchart can be used in showing a simple summation process.

Flowchart Example – Calculate Profit and Loss

The flowchart example below shows how profit and loss can be calculated.

Creating a Flowchart in Visual Paradigm

Let’s see how to draw a flowchart in Visual Paradigm. We will use a very simple flowchart example here. You may expand the example when finished this tutorial.

1. Select Diagram > New from the main menu.

2. In the New Diagram window, select Flowchart and click Next.
   

3. You can start from an empty diagram or start from a flowchart template or flowchart example provided. Let’s start from a blank diagram. Select Blank and click Next.
   

4. Enter the name of the flowchart and click OK.

5. Let’s start by creating a Start symbol. Drag the Start shape from the diagram toolbar and drop it onto the diagram. Name it Start.
   

6. Create the next shape. Move your mouse pointer over the start shape. Press on the triangular handler on the right and drag it out.
   

7. Release the mouse button. Select Flow Line > Process from the Resource Catalog.
   

8. Enter Add items to Cart as the name of the process.

9. Follow the same steps to create two more processes Checkout Shopping Cart and Settle Payment.
   

10. End the flow by creating a terminator.
    
    Your diagram should look like this:
    

11. Color the shapes. Select Diagram > Format Panel from the main menu. Select a shape on the diagram and click update its color through the Style setting in the Format Panel.
    
    This is the final flowchart:
    

Introduction to Flowcharts

The flowcharts are simple visual tools that help us understand and represent processes very easily. They use shapes like arrows, rectangles, and diamonds to show steps and decisions clearly. If someone is making a project or explaining a complex task, flowcharts can make complex ideas easier to understand.

Introduction to Flowcharts

Table of Content

• What are Flowcharts?

• Why use Flowcharts?

• Types of Flowcharts

• Symbols used in Flowchart Designs

  • Terminal/Terminator

  • Input/Output

  • Action/Process

  • Decision

  • On-Page Connector/Reference

  • Off-Page Connector/Reference

  • Flow lines

• Rules For Creating a Flowchart

• Example of a Flowchart

• Advantages of using a Flowchart

• Disadvantages of using a Flowchart

What are Flowcharts?

Flowcharts are the visual representations of an algorithm or a process. Flowcharts use symbols/shapes like arrows, rectangles, and diamonds to properly explain the sequence of steps involved in the algorithm or process. Flowcharts have their use cases in various fields such as software development, business process modeling, and engineering.

Why use Flowcharts?

Flowcharts are used due to the numerous amount of benefits they provide. Below are some of the important reasons to use flowcharts:

• They provide clarity and simplification to the complex processes and algorithms, which in turn helps other people to understand them easily.

• Flowcharts provide a universal visual language that can be understood by anyone across different teams and helps reduce miscommunications.

• They are an optimal solution for documenting standard operating procedures, workflows, or business processes. This makes it easier to train new employees.

• Flowcharts help in increasing the visualization of the problem being solved which enables more informed and data-driven choices.

Types of Flowcharts

There are many types of flowcharts, each is designed to represent different kinds of processes and information. Some common types of flowcharts are:

• Process Flowchart: It represents the sequence of steps in a process. They are frequently used in business process modeling, manufacturing, and project management

• Swimlane Flowchart: It organizes the process into different lanes, each representing a different person or department and is used for illustrating how different teams or departments collaborate within a process

• Workflow Diagram: It represents how tasks, documents, or information move through a system and is commonly used in office processes or software development

• Data Flow Diagram (DFD): It focuses on detailing the inputs, processes, and outputs. Used in system design and analysis to model the flow of data within a system

• Decision Flowchart: It focuses on mapping out decision points within a process and the possible outcomes of each decision. It is used in decision-making scenarios

Symbols used in Flowchart Designs

1. Terminal/Terminator

The oval symbol indicates Start, Stop and Halt in a program's logic flow. A pause/halt is generally used in a program logic under some error conditions. Terminal is the first and last symbols in the flowchart.

Terminal/Terminator

2. Input/Output

A parallelogram denotes any function of input/output type. Program instructions that take input from input devices and display output on output devices are indicated with parallelogram in a flowchart.

Input/Output

3. Action/Process

A box represents arithmetic instructions, specific action or operation that occurs as a part of the process. All arithmetic processes such as adding, subtracting, multiplication and division are indicated by action/process symbol.

Action/Process

4. Decision

Diamond symbol represents a decision point. Decision based operations such as yes/no question or true/false are indicated by diamond in flowchart.

Decision

5. On-Page Connector/Reference

Whenever flowchart becomes complex or it spreads over more than one page, it is useful to use connectors to avoid any confusions. connectors are used to indicate a jump from one part of the flowchart to another without drawing long or complicated lines. On-Page Connector is represented by a small circle

On-Page Connector/Reference

6. Off-Page Connector/Reference

Whenever flowchart becomes complex or it spreads over more than one page, it is useful to use connectors to avoid any confusions. connectors are used to indicate a jump from one part of the flowchart to another without drawing long or complicated lines. Off-Page Connector is represented by a pentagon.

Off-Page Connector/Reference

7. Flow lines

Flow lines indicate the exact sequence in which instructions are executed. Arrows represent the direction of flow of control and relationship among different symbols of flowchart.

Flow lines

Rules For Creating a Flowchart

A flowchart is a graphical representation of an algorithm. It should follow some rules while creating a flowchart

• Rule 1: Flowchart opening statement must be ‘start’ keyword.

• Rule 2: Flowchart ending statement must be ‘end’ keyword.

• Rule 3: All symbols in the flowchart must be connected with an arrow line.

• Rule 4: Each decision point should have two or more distinct outcomes.

• Rule 5: Flow should generally move from top to bottom or left to right.

Example of a Flowchart

Draw a flowchart to input two numbers from the user and display the largest of two numbers.

Example Flowchart

Below is the explanation of the above flowchart:

• Start: The process begins with the Start symbol, indicating the start of the program.

• Input num1: The first number, represented as num1, is entered.

• Input num2: The second number, represented as num2, is entered.

• Decision (num1 > num2): A decision point checks if num1 is greater than num2.

• • If True, the process moves to the next step where num1 will be displayed.

• • If False, the process moves to display num2.

• Stop: The process ends with the Stop symbol, signaling the conclusion of the program.

Advantages of using a Flowchart

• Flowcharts are a better way of communicating the logic of the system.

• Flowcharts act as a guide for blueprint during program designed.

• Flowcharts help in debugging process.

• With the help of flowcharts programs can be easily analyzed.

• They provide better documentation.

• Flowcharts serve as a good proper documentation.

Disadvantages of using a Flowchart

• It is difficult to draw flowcharts for large and complex programs.

• There is no standard to determine the amount of detail.

• It is very difficult to modify the Flowchart.

• Making a flowchart is costly.

• If changes are done in software, then the flowchart must be redrawn

Conclusion

Flowcharts are powerful tools for visualizing processes, algorithms, and workflows. They simplify complex tasks by breaking them down into clear, actionable steps, making them easier to understand and communicate. By following standard symbols and rules, flowcharts enhance clarity, support decision-making, and facilitate collaboration across teams.

What Is a Flowchart?

IN THIS GUIDE

• Flowchart Symbols

• How to Make a Flowchart with Creately

• Types of Flowcharts

• Flowchart Templates and Examples

• AI Flowcharts: Smarter Way to Visualize Processes

• Effective Use of Flowcharts – Case Studies

• FAQs on What Is a Flowchart

Exploring Flowcharts?

Create a Flowchart

Flowcharting Basics

Flowchart Templates

Flowchart is a structured visual representation of a process, system, or algorithm. It illustrates a sequence of steps using standardized flowchart symbols, such as rectangles for actions, diamonds for decision points, and arrows to indicate the process flow. By breaking down complex workflows into clear, logical steps, a flowchart diagram helps users quickly understand and analyze a process. A well-structured flowchart design provides clarity and ensures a structured approach to problem-solving.

Flowchart Symbols

Flowcharts use a variety of symbols to represent different elements of a process. Each symbol has a specific meaning, helping to clearly communicate actions, decisions, or data flows within the chart. Here’s a quick overview of the most commonly used symbols:

Symbol

Description

Terminal/Terminator

Marks the start or end of a process.

Process (Rectangle)

Represents a task, action, or operation in the flow.

Data (I/O)

Indicates inputs to and outputs from a process, shaped like a parallelogram.

Decision (Diamond)

Represents a decision point, with arrows branching based on the answer (e.g., yes/no).

Document

Symbolizes a report or document, shown as a rectangle with a wavy bottom.

Stored Data

Represents general data storage.

Direct Data

Symbolizes data stored on devices like a hard drive.

Internal Storage

Common in programming, represents data stored in memory (RAM).

These common symbols are used to building an accurate and understandable flowchart. There are more key flowchart symbols used for more complex processes and industries.

Flowchart Symbols

How to Make a Flowchart with Creately

Creating a flowchart is a straightforward process when you have the right tools. Whether you’re starting from scratch or using a ready-made flowchart template, following a structured approach ensures clarity and accuracy.

Step 1: Define the Purpose of Your Flowchart

Before you begin, determine the goal of your flowchart design. Are you mapping out a business workflow, a software process, or a troubleshooting flowchart guide? Understanding the objective will help you choose the right flowchart type and symbols.

Step 2: Identify the Key Steps

List the main steps involved in the process. Break down complex workflows into smaller, manageable tasks. Ensure each step logically connects to the next to maintain clarity in your flowchart diagram.

Step 3: Choose a Flowcharting Tool

To create a professional flowchart, use an intuitive diagramming tool like Creately. You can:

• Start from scratch: Sign in to Creately and open a blank canvas to manually design your flowchart using drag-and-drop elements.

• Use templates: Select from a range of flowchart templates to save time and maintain consistency in your design.

Step 4: Add Flowchart Symbols

Use standard flowchart symbols to represent different steps in your process. Arrange the symbols logically and ensure the sequence accurately represents the workflow.

Step 5: Connect the Elements

Use arrows to establish the flow between steps. Ensure connections are clear and do not overlap excessively to maintain readability. If there are multiple pathways, label them appropriately for easy understanding.

Step 6: Review and Refine

Before finalizing your flowchart, check for errors or missing steps. Ask a colleague to review it to ensure it accurately represents the process. Adjust the layout for better readability if needed.

Step 7: Save, Share, and Export

Once complete, save your flowchart on Creately for future editing. You can also export it in various formats (PDF, PNG, or SVG) or share it with your team for collaboration.

Types of Flowcharts

Flowcharts come in various types, each serving a specific purpose in visualizing processes. Below are some of the basic types of flowcharts that are commonly used across industries.

1. Process Flowchart

A process flowchart represents a step-by-step sequence of actions involved in completing a task or workflow. It is widely used in business operations, manufacturing, and quality control to analyze and optimize processes. Process flowcharts help identify inefficiencies, redundancies, and areas for improvement.

2. Workflow Diagram

A workflow diagram illustrates how tasks, information, and documents move through a system or between individuals. It is often used in business process management (BPM) and project management to improve collaboration, streamline tasks, and ensure the smooth execution of processes.

3. Decision Flowchart

A decision flowchart is used to map out decision-making processes. It includes multiple decision points, each leading to different outcomes based on predefined conditions. These flowcharts are helpful in troubleshooting, problem-solving, and designing business rules or policies.

4. Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

A data flow diagram (DFD) focuses on how data moves within a system, showing data inputs, outputs, storage, and processing. It is widely used in software development, system design, and database modeling to visualize the flow of information between different components.

5. Swimlane Flowchart

A swimlane flowchart organizes a process into lanes or sections, each representing a person, team, or department responsible for specific tasks. This type of flowchart is useful in cross-functional workflows, as it helps clarify roles, responsibilities, and dependencies between different stakeholders.

6. Algorithm Flowchart

Algorithm flowcharts are commonly used in computer programming, mathematics, and engineering. They visually represent the logical sequence of steps needed to solve a problem or perform a computation. These flowcharts help in structuring code and debugging errors before implementation.

Flowchart Templates and Examples

Creating a flowchart from scratch can be time-consuming, but using flowchart templates streamlines the process. Below, you’ll find a collection of ready-to-use flowchart examples designed for various use cases, including business workflows, software development, decision-making, and process optimization.

AI Flowcharts: Smarter Way to Visualize Processes

AI-powered flowcharts are transforming the way businesses and professionals create, analyze, and optimize workflows. With intelligent automation, AI flowchart tools can generate flowcharts instantly, suggest improvements, and even detect inefficiencies in processes.

Benefits of AI Flowcharts

• Automated Generation – AI can quickly convert text-based inputs, data, or prompts into structured flowcharts, saving time and effort.

• Smart Recommendations – AI-powered tools analyze processes and suggest optimizations to improve efficiency.

• Real-Time Collaboration – AI-enhanced flowcharting platforms allow teams to work together seamlessly, ensuring up-to-date and synchronized process maps.

• Error Detection & Optimization – AI helps identify process bottlenecks and recommends improvements, ensuring streamlined workflows.

How to create a flow chart

Table of contents

• Why flowcharts matter

• What do flowchart symbols mean?

• How to make a flowchart

• Step 1: Title your flowchart

• Step 2: Select your flowchart template

• Step 3: Define flowchart symbols

• Step 4: Connect your symbols with arrows

• Step 5: Polish your flowchart

• 3 ways to share your flowchart with Figma

• Go with the flow using Figma

A flowchart is a diagram of a process or system that maps out the main functions of a product, application, or website. Figma's flowchart maker makes it easy for designers and product owners to capture workflows, map out website navigation, communicate step-by-step processes, and plan projects.

Why flowcharts matter

Flowcharts can boost design team communication and streamline product workflows by improving:

• Clarity. Since 65% of people are visual learners, flowchart diagrams help make complex ideas or new processes easier to follow and remember..

• Coordination. Flowcharts break down a big project into a logical sequence of steps, so that everyone on the team can easily see what happens when—and where they fit in.

• Efficiency. Creating a flowchart reveals redundant steps and points of confusion in any process, so that you can pinpoint areas for improvement.

• Documentation. Flowcharts document your methods for future reference, so that decisions are transparent and new team members can get up to speed quickly

What do flowchart symbols mean?

To make a flowchart, designers plot out these key flowchart symbols:

• Rectangles represent steps or actions. Flowcharts that outline a process step by step use rectangles to indicate each step or action. In user experience (UX) design, common actions include clicking and scrolling.

• Lines and arrows connect steps, showing the intended direction, sequence, or flow. For example, a flowchart capturing an e-commerce user journey might use arrows to map out user flows from landing page to checkout.

• Rhombus symbols mark steps where the user must input data. On an e-commerce flow, a rhombus might indicate when users must input a shipping address.

• Circles usually mark a starting or stopping point in a flow. Once a user has completed checkout and leaves an e-commerce site, the end of that journey might be marked on the flowchart with a circle.

• [symbol: diamond] Diamonds represent decisions, or questions requiring a choice. At a decision point marked by a diamond, a flow may split into different directions or processes.

How to make a flowchart

To create a flowchart, you can use Figma's flowchart maker or follow these five steps.

Step 1: Title your flowchart

Every flowchart should have an obvious purpose, clearly spelled out in the title. Whether you're building a design prototype for stakeholders or mocking up UI interactions, capturing that purpose in your flowchart title helps get everyone on the same page.

Step 2: Select your flowchart template

Figma provides easy, editable flowchart templates with drag-and-drop symbols. Figma automatically saves edits as you work, and lets you share ideas with team members via an online collaborative whiteboard.

To get started, take your pick of Figma flowchart templates:

• Process flowcharts break down a big challenge or task into a series of steps and choices.

• Simple flowcharts help simplify any process, making it easier to explain and build.

• Systems flowcharts help visualize complex systems and identify key players.

Step 3: Define flowchart symbols

Flowcharts work like maps, with key milestones and turning points marked by flowchart symbols (see above)—plus any custom symbols you decide to add. Just be sure to include a key on your flowchart so everyone can easily see what your symbols mean.

Step 4: Connect your symbols with arrows

Plot out your flowchart using arrows to connect one symbol to the next in a logical sequence. The direction of the arrows makes following a sequential progression easy, from beginning to end.

In addition to forward-pointing arrows, you might include three other types of arrows on flowcharts:

• Return arrows mark a return to previous points in the flowchart. For example, a return arrow might indicate that a website visitor can return to the homepage from a product page.

• Dotted-line arrows represent predicted or suggested actions with uncertain outcomes.

• Forked arrows indicate different possible directions, depending on a user's choice. Mark decision points with a diamond, and label each part of the forking arrow leading down a different path with the option it represents.

Step 5: Polish your flowchart

A cohesive design and color scheme creates immediate interest in your flowchart without distracting from its content. Figma makes it easy to adjust design elements without editing them individually, so that they remain cohesive. You can set styles to match your brand and meet accessibility standards with your chosen font type and size, thickness of arrows and lines, background color and contrast, and distance between grid elements. You can always rely on a color wheel generator to help you create a well balanced color palette to highlight your flowcharts.

Pro tip: define your custom flowchart symbols and styles as components, so that you can apply them consistently across all versions of your flowchart.