For a new project at work, I’m blocking out the different components using Jesse James Garrett’s visual vocabulary. I’d seen this methodology before, but I was more intrigued after seeing the stencil available in OmniGraffle, a Mac OS X diagramming/charting tool (think Visio, for Mac).
I’m not a very visual person, but I’m learning more and more that my tendency to rely on written communication doesn’t convey enough information for some of my colleagues. Some people react and move to images, not words. That’s understandable. I know that I, too, grasp the power of an image or a diagram very quickly. But I’ve been reluctant to strike out visually since I know it’s a weakness. All you can do is dive in, so I’m relying on the tools of OmniGraffle to help me communicate. So far, I haven’t finished anything solid enough to share widely, but the visual vocabulary for information architecture hits a sweet spot in its simplicity. I think I’ll be able to provide a skeleton which all parties involved will understand, and when the time comes to flesh it out, well, I’ll ask the true visual experts to step in. How do you sell your ideas?