Flowchart

フローチャート / 1921– / Layout / Diagrammatic Expression

The Gilbreths invented this process diagram for work analysis. Its grammar of shapes gives a diamond to every decision and a rectangle to every process, and by way of programming it became the common language for thinking in steps.

Flowchart — Gilbreth's process chart symbols 1921 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Gilbreth's process chart symbols 1921 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Flowchart — Process chart 1921 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Process chart 1921 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Flowchart — Drawing stencil for flowcharts — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 · © Spideog — Drawing stencil for flowcharts — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · © Spideog

At a glance

Visual cues

A grammar of shapes
The decision diamond
Arrows of flow
Start and end terminals

Best used for

Getting a team to agree on a work procedure that branches
Surfacing branches and exceptions in a spec before implementation

Use this style

Take the compact brief into a project or hand the structured version to an AI tool.

design.md image prompt JSON API MCP & machine access Compose

open in ChatGPT open in Claude open in Google AI

Detailed guidance and sourcesProduction rules, reference works, comparisons, research and citation formats

Dictionary entry

Type: A question inside every diamond, a verb first sentence in rectangles
Composition: Main path down one column, branches right and always rejoining
Material: Each branch labeled with its answer, terminals only at both ends
Caution: Mixing diamonds and rectangles without respecting their meanings erases the line between decision and process, and readers guess.
Further study: the Gilbreths' ASME paper, 1921 / ISO 5807 / its rise and fall in software design

Related entries

Circuit Diagram (回路図)Same Diagrammatic Expression lineage.Compare Flowchart and Circuit Diagram
Schematic Transit Diagram (スキーマティック路線図)Shared effects: Trust / Technique.Compare Flowchart and Schematic Transit Diagram

Cite this entry

The dictionary is meant to be linked to. Take whichever form fits where you are writing.

Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/flowchart
Markdown: [Flowchart — IndexStyle](https://indexstyle.org/styles/flowchart)
HTML: <a href="https://indexstyle.org/styles/flowchart">Flowchart — IndexStyle</a>

Back to index position