OmniGraffle
I’m working on quite a complex website project just now, and recently had to document the database schema and information architecture before getting down to code. Usually I sketch out some stuff on paper then boot up Freehand to draw some diagrams, but out of curiosity I thought I’d try out OmniGraffle on my PowerBook.
It’s ideal for exactly this purpose and is a joy to use. Within a few seconds I was up and running building complex schematics. The interface is a great example of what can be achieved using the Cocoa Framework - all the menus, icons and widgets look great and are very intuitive. Compare this interface to Freehand, which can be quite intimidating to the newbie user and also very ugly. Even better, it’s free with new Macs, albeit an older version (2.2 - the latest version is 3.02).
I know Freehand is a professional illustration product, but the Macromedia GUI engineers could certainly learn a thing or two from apps like OmniGraffle.
Posted 6 years, 2 months ago on 30th November 2003.
Comments
I discovered some useful extras too through the OmniGroup’s website :
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/extras/
Several people have produced third-party stencils for specific uses. MySQL Schema stencil and Web Flowchart seem pretty useful for diagramming web architecture.
It’s becoming one of those apps where I find uses for it, rather than one I try to avoid until I have no option (are you listening Macromedia?).
I wonder if OmniWeb 5 will be just as good?...
Phil · 6 years, 2 months ago
Does anyone know of any other stencils available besides those on the omniweb site?
Tony · 6 years ago
A quick Google turned up these sites Tony -
Wireframes
http://studioid.com/pg/omnigraffle_wireframe_palette.php
Enterprise Systems
http://homepage.mac.com/sjdavies/graffle/index_graffle.html
User Centred Design Activities
http://www.indiana.edu/~usable/resources_templates.htm
HTH
Phil · 6 years ago
Omnigraffle is definitely the best. What we need is something like php iCal for it: phpOmnigraffle.
James Stroud · www · 5 years, 7 months ago
OmniGraffle is pretty incredible. Check out OmniOutliner, too–if you use OmniGraffle to open an OmniOutliner outline, it auto-converts it into a visual map. Incredible for quickly sketching out sitemaps, if that’s something you do with some frequency.
People stuck on Visio dream of an application like OmniGraffle...
Ethan · www · 6 years, 2 months ago