INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

notes and reviewer (1st sem

finals)

M10&11: DATA ANALYSIS IN

EXCEL

MS Excel is one of the most

commonly used tools for data
analysis. The convenience of use In the resulting window, check the
and cost are two very important box next to Analysis
reasons why most data Toolpak and then click OK.
professionals prefer using Excel
for statistical data analysis.
However, using Excel for
statistical analysis requires clarity
of thought, data analysis
knowledge, and strong decision-
making skills.

Whether you are performing

statistical analysis using Excel If you correctly added the Data
2010 or Excel 2013, you need to Analysis Toolpak to Excel, you’ll
have a clear understanding of see a Data Analysis button in
charts and pivot tables. Most data the Data tab, grouped into
analysts using Excel for statistical the Analysis section:
analysis depend largely on these
two Excel features. Having
knowledge of the essential
statistics for data analysis using
Excel answers is a plus.

Adding the Excel Data Analysis

Toolpak

While you can do stats without

the Data Analysis Toolpak, it’s
much easier with it. To install the
Toolpak in Excel 2016, go to File
> Options > Add-ins.
Click Go next to “Manage: Excel
Add-ins.”
Advanced Charting
There is no use if all your analysis
is buried in a massive
spreadsheet. Advanced users of
Excel know that by using charts,
we can communicate effectively
and present results in a stunning
manner. The skills required for
advanced charting are,

• Knowing how to pick right type

of chart for any situation
• Ability to combine various charts
in to one
• Use features like in-cell charts &
conditional formatting charts
• Ability to set up dynamic &
interactive charts
• Use sparklines
Why is it important to pick right
chart?
Because right charts lead to
right decisions. We use charts
to tell stories, evaluate
alternatives, understand trends or
find-out if everything is normal.
So, an incorrect charting choice
can lead to poor judgment of the
messages where as a correct
chart can lead to right and faster
decisions.
How to pick a chart type:
Chart making process can be
divided in to 4 steps
1. Find-out what you want to say?
2. (Re)arrange the data
3. Prepare the chart
4. Format the chart
1. What is the purpose of this
chart?
This is the first and most
important step in chart
preparation. You must ask
yourself, “what is the purpose of
this chart?”. Once we know the
clear reason why the chart should
exist, we will naturally be able to
select the correct chart type for
that reason.
But I realize that finding the
reason itself can be a bit
tedious. So I have listed down 6
common reasons that we often
have to make a chart:
1. to Compare
2. to show the Distribution
3. to explain Parts of the Whole
4. to tell the Trend over time
5. to findout the Deviations
6. to understand the Relationship
Let us understand these reasons
along with the type of charts that
go well with these.
1. To Compare:
What it means? You want to
compare one set of value(s) with
another.
Examples:
• Performance of Product A vs.
Product B in 5 regions
• Interview performance of What it means? You want to
various candidates show how various parts comprise
the whole
Charts that can be used for this
reason: Examples:

• Individual product sales as a

percentage of whole revenue
• Bar Charts, • Browser types of customers
visiting our website
• Column Charts
Charts that can be used to
• Scatter Plots
show Parts of Whole:
• Pie Charts

• Line Charts

• Data Tables
• Column Charts
2. To Show the Distribution
• Bar Charts
What it means? You want to
• Pie Charts
show the distribution of a set of
values (to understand the outliers, • Data Table
normal ranges etc.)
4. Trend over time
Examples:
What it means? You want to
• Distribution of Call waiting times understand the trend over time of
in a call center some variable(s).
• Distribution of bugs found in 10 Examples:
week software testing phase
• Customer footfalls on the last
Charts that can be used to show 365 days
distribution:
• Share price of MSFT in the last
100 trading sessions

Charts that can be used to

show Trend Over Time:
• Column Charts

• Scatter Plots

• Line charts

• Box Plots • Column Charts

3. Parts of Whole
• Line Charts

• Data Table

5. Deviations
• Scatter Plot
What it means? You want to see
which values deviate from the • Line Chart
norm.
• Data Table
Examples:
Pivot Tables & Pivot Reporting
• Failures (or bugs) in the context
of Quality Control Pivot tables & pivot reporting
allows us to analyze massive
• Sales in Various Stores amounts of data & answer
questions with just a few clicks.
Charts that can be used to Advanced users of Excel are very
show Deviations: familiar with various features of
Pivot tables & can use them really
well. Some of the advanced pivot
table features are – relationships,
multi-tale pivots, grouping, slicers,
• Column Charts measures (Power Pivot) &
summary by different type of
• Bar Charts
metrics.
• Line Charts
What are Excel Pivot Tables?
• Data Table
A pivot table turns your data into
6. Relationship report format. Here is a sample
Pivot table from sales data,
What it means? You want to showing total sales by region.
establish (or show) relationship
between 2 (or more) variables

Examples:

• Relationship between Search

Phrases and Product Purchases
in your website

• Relationship between in-store

sales and holidays
How to create a Pivot Table?
Charts that can be used to
show Relationship: We will use 2019 sales data of a
fictional company. This data
contains 466 rows of sales
information in columns – Month,
Salesman, Region, Product,
No. Customers, Net Sales, Profit /
Loss. Here is a preview of our
data.
To create a pivot table
showing totals sales by region,
follow these steps.
1. Select any cell in the data.
2. Go to Insert ribbon and click
“Pivot Table” button.
3. Click ok on the next screen.
4. You will be taken a new
spreadsheet with blank Pivot
Table canvas. Here, using the
Pivot Table Fields panel set
“Regions” field to row label area,
“Products” to “Filter” area and
“Net Sales” to values area. See
below illustration.
Your pivot table will be ready. We
can see that “West” is our best
region. This is why Pivot tables
are easy for finding answers to
common business questions.
Two dimensional Pivots - Row
& Column fields
You can add fields to both “Row”
and “Column” label area of a
pivot. Such Pivot Tables are
normally called two dimensional
pivots. Here is a demo of a two
dimensional pivot table
showing Total Sales by Region
& Sales Person.
Multi-dimensional Pivots - Row &
Column fields

You can also add more than one

item to “Row” or “Column” label
area. This creates a multi-
dimensional Pivot Report. Here is
one such pivot report showing
total sales by Region, Sales
Person & Product for selected
months.
Sorting in Excel Pivot Tables

You can easily sort pivot report by

ascending or descending order of
the value. To do this, just right
click on the value, select Sort >
and specify the order.

Here is an example of sorted

pivot report of Number of
customers by Sales person.

How to format Pivot Table

values?

By default, numbers in Pivot

Tables tend to just look like zip
codes, without any proper
formatting. This is easy to fix
though. Simply right click on the
values and use “Value Field
Settings” to set up the
formatting. To set currency
formatting for our Total sales by
region Pivot Report, Bonus tip: Manual sorting You
can also manually adjust the
1. Go to value field settings order of Pivot items by dragging
2. Click on Number Format button and dropping them. See this tip
in action.
3. Set up the formatting to
“Currency” Filtering Excel Pivot Tables

4. Done. You are looking at Regional total

sales and want to know what the
See this illustration. total is for just “RapidZoo”
product. You can do this
by filtering the pivot table. Excel
offers two powerful ways to filter
Pivot Tables
1. Report filters
2. Slicers
Both methods are illustrated
below. Read on to learn how to
use them.
Filtering with Report Filters
Report filter is a great way to
restrict the data that is flowing to
your pivot. To set them up, just
add the field to “Filters” area in
the fields panel. Now, using the
filter button next to “Product”,
select the product you want.
Here is a quick demo of report
filters in action.
Filtering with Slicers
There are a ton of cool features in
Excel Pivot Tables, but slicers are
hands-down the best feature. At-
least that is what I think. They
make filtering and ad-hoc data
analysis a breeze.
A slicer is a visual filter. You can
add a slicer on any field by right
clicking on it from the fields panel.
See the illustration “Adding filters
to a pivot report” from above.
Once you have a slicer on
Product, simply click on any
product name to see the report
for that.
Here is a quick demo of Pivot
Table with slicers.
Bonus Tip: Use Timelines for
date filtering When you have a
date field (Month in our data), you
can use special type of a slicer,
called timeline. This enables you
to interactively select a portion of
time.
Other kinds of filtering - Value &
Label Filters
Apart from report filters &
Slicers, Pivot Tables also allow
you to filter by a field or value.
Field or Label Filter: If you don’t
want to see “Middle” region in a
row label area, just click on the
filter button next to “Row Labels”
and uncheck the region. This type in compact layout. This means,
of filtering is called Label Filtering. if you add multiple fields to row
label area, they will all be shown
Value Filter: If you want to see in same column, with indentation.
just the top 2 regions by total
sales, then you need a value You can change the layout of a
filter. Simply go to filter button pivot table to other formats too.
next to row labels and using value
filters, apply a top 10 filter but set • Compact form (default)
it to top 2 values by “Sum of net • Outline form
sales.”
• Tabular form
Changing Calculations in Pivot
Tables You can change the layout
from Pivot Table Design ribbon.
The default calculation in Pivot
Tables is SUM for number fields
and COUNT for all others. But
you can also customize the
calculation easily. Just right click
on the value field and choose
different type of summary from
right click menu.

Changing from SUM to

AVERAGE in a Pivot Table

Here is a quick illustration of how

to change calculation type from
“SUM” to “AVERAGE”. Here is an example of same
Pivot Table in both Compact
and Tabular layouts.

Pivot Table Layouts & Colors

By default, Excel Pivot Tables are Styling & colors of Excel Pivot
Tables
You can apply any formatting
to the pivot tables. MS Excel
has some very good pivot table
styles. Just select pivot table
cells, go to Pivot Table Design
ribbon. See below image to
understand various options
available.
Bonus tip: Copy Pivot Tables to
format quicker If you like the
formatting (colors, layout etc.) of
a Pivot Table and want to use the
same set up for a new Pivot
Table, simply copy and paste the
original table. Then you can
change the fields and your new
Pivot will be ready.
Visualizing with Pivot Charts
You can use Pivot Charts to
visualize the same information in
a graphic format. Here is a
sample Pivot Chart of Net Sales
by Region & Product.
Steps for creating a Pivot
Chart:
1. Select any cell in the Pivot
Table.
2. Click on Insert > Chart or
Analyze > Pivot Chart button.
3. Insert the type of chart you
want.
4. You will get a Pivot Chart.
Bonus tip: Add Pivot Chart
directly from data You can insert
Pivot Chart directly from data.
Just select
your data and press Pivot Chart
button in the insert ribbon (in
charts area). Use Fields Panel to
set up the chart.
Interactive Pivot Chart with
Slicers
Slicers make it incredibly easy to
create interactive charts. Once
you have a regular Pivot Chart,
simply add a slicer to it (right click
on the field in “Pivot Table Fields”
area and select “Add as Slicer”).
You now have an interactive Pivot
Chart.
Updating Pivot Tables (Refresh)
Whenever you have new data,
just use “Refresh” button to
update your Pivot Tables. You can
find this button in multiple places.
• Data ribbon
• Pivot Table Analyze ribbon
• On right clicking any Pivot Table
• By pressing ALT+F5 (refreshes
single pivot) or CTRL+ALT+F5
(refreshes all pivots)
What if you want to point Pivot
to new data?
Select any cell in the Pivot Table
and from Analyze ribbon, use the
“Change Data Source” button.
Point input data to a new source.
As long as the new data has
same fields, everything will work
smoothly.
Using Excel for Statistical
Analysis: Pivot Tables
A PivotTable is an Excel tool for
summarizing a list into a simple
format. It helps you analyze all
the data in your worksheet so as
to make better business
decisions. Excel can help you by
recommending, and then,
automatically creating
PivotTables, which are a great
way to summarize, analyze,
explore, and present your data.
A pivot table may be used as an
interactive data summarization
tool to automatically condense
large datasets into a separate,
concise table. You can use it to
create an informative summary of
a large dataset or make regional
comparisons between brand
sales.
You can create PivotTables from
lists, as you define which fields
should be arranged in columns,
which fields should become rows,
and what data you wish to
summarize.
Using Excel for Statistical
Analysis: Descriptive Statistics
Descriptive Statistics tool in the
Data Analysis add-in can be used
on an existing data set to get up
to 16 different descriptive
statistics, without having to enter
a single function on the
worksheet. Descriptive Statistics
gives you a general idea of trends
in your data including:
• The mean, mode, median and
range
• Variance and standard deviation
• Skewness
• Sample Variance
• Kurtosis and Skewness
• Count, maximum and minimum

Descriptive Statistics is useful
because it allows you to take a
large amount of data and
summarize it. For example, you
may want to represent the
incomes of a community. Instead
of showing it on an excel, you
may summarize it, it becomes
useful: an average wage, or a
median income, is much easier to
understand and then analyze the
data.
You can find descriptive analysis
by going to Excel→ Data→ Data
Analysis → Descriptive statistics.
It is the most basic set of analysis
that can be performed on any
data set.
Using Excel for Statistical
Analysis: ANOVA (Analysis of
Variance)
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is a
statistical technique that is used
to check if the means of two or
more groups are significantly
different from each other. ANOVA
checks the impact of one or more
factors by comparing the means
of different samples.
ANOVA method in Excel shows
whether the mean of two or more
data set is significantly different
from each other or not. In other
words, ANOVA analyses two or
more groups simultaneously and
finds out whether any relationship
is there among the groups of data
set or not.
For example, you may use
ANOVA if you want to analyze the
traffic of three different cities and
find out which one is more
efficient in handling the traffic (or
if there are no significant
differences among the traffic).

You will find three types of
ANOVA in Excel:
• ANOVA single factor
• ANOVA two factor with
replication
• ANOVA two factor without
replication
If you have three groups of
datasets and want to check
whether there is any significant
difference between these groups
or not, you can use ANOVA single
factor. If the P-value in the
ANOVA summary table is greater
than 0.05, you can say that there
is a significant difference between
the groups.
Using Excel for Statistical
Analysis: Moving Average
Moving Average, another great
tool for those using Excel for
statistical analysis, is ideal for
time series data such as stock
price, weather report, attendance
in class, etc. Moving Average is
used extensively in stock price as
a technical indicator. If you want
to predict the stock price of today,
the last ten days’ data would be
more relevant than the last 1
year.
You may, simply plot the moving
average of the stock having a 10-
day period and then predict the
estimated price. The same rule
may be applied for predicting the
temperature of a city. The recent
temperature of a city can be
calculated by taking the average
of the last few weeks rather than
the last few months.
Using Excel for Statistical
Analysis: Rank and Percentile
The Rank and Percentile, another
popular Excel features used for
data analysis, is useful for finding
the rank of all the values in a list.
The best part of using the Rank
and Percentile feature is that the
percentile is also added to the
output table.
The percentile is a percentage
that indicates the proportion of
the list which is below a given
number. It calculates the ranking
and percentile in the data set. For
example, if you are managing a
business of several products and
want to find out which product is
contributing to a higher revenue,
you can use this rank method in
Excel.
In the left table, we have our data
on the revenues of different
products. And we want to rank
this data of products based on
their revenue. With the help of
rank and percentile, we can get
the table shown on the right. You
can observe that now the data is
sorted and respective rank is also
marked with each data.
Percentile shows the category in
which the data belongs, such as
the top 50%, top 30%, etc. In the
summary table, the rank of
product 7 is 4. As the total
number of data is 7, we can
easily say that it belongs to the
top 50% of the data.
analysis using Excel
2010, Regression Analysis is the
best way of mathematically
sorting out which of those
variables does indeed have an
impact. It answers the questions:
Which factors matter most?
Which can we ignore? How do
those factors interact with each
other? And, perhaps most
importantly, how certain are we
about all of these factors?

Using Excel for Statistical

Analysis: Regression

Regression is one of the best

features in Excel. It is widely used
for using Excel for statistical data
analysis. Regression is a process
These factors are more
of establishing a relationship
commonly known as variables.
among many variables; to
You may have your dependent or
establish a relationship between
independent variables. In order to
dependent variables and
conduct a regression analysis,
independent variables.
you gather the data on the
Regression is great for use for variables in question.
using Excel for statistical data
You may take all of your monthly
analysis. You, may, for example,
sales numbers, the past five
want to see if there is an increase
years and any data on the
in the revenue of the product,
independent variables you may
which is not due to the increase in
find useful. You may, for example,
the advertisement.
find out the average monthly
rainfall for the past five years as
well.

Using Excel for Statistical

Analysis: Random Number
Generator

If you are using Excel for

statistical data analysis, on a
If you performing statistical
regular basis, Random Number
Generator must be your top
choice for generating a series of
random numbers. This simple
function in Excel gives you more
flexibility in the random number
generation process. It gives you
more control over the generated
data.
A random number is one
that is drawn from a set of
possible values, each of
which is equally probable.
In statistics, this is called a
uniform distribution,
because the distribution of
probabilities for each number is
uniform (i.e., the same) across
the range of possible values.
For example, a good (unloaded)
die has the probability 1/6 of
rolling a one, 1/6 of rolling a two
and so on. Hence, the probability
of each of the six numbers
coming up is exactly the same, so
we say any roll of our die has a
uniform distribution.
When discussing a sequence of
random numbers, each number
drawn must be statistically
independent of the others. This
means that drawing one value
doesn’t make that value less
likely to occur again. This is
exactly the case with our
unloaded die: If you roll a six, that
doesn’t mean the chance of
rolling another six changes.
Two very essential statistics for
data analysis using Excel:
• The function RANDBETWEEN
returns a random integer number
• The function RAND () returns a
random real number of a uniform
distribution. It will be less than 1
and greater than or equal to 0.
Using Excel for Statistical
Analysis: Sampling
Sampling is one of the most
readily preferred Excel tools if you
are using Excel for statistical data
analysis. This option is used for
creating samples from a huge
population. You can randomly
select data from the dataset or
select every nth item from the set.
For example, if you may want to
measure the effectiveness of
female call center employee in a
call center, you can use this tool
to randomly select few data every
month and listen to their recorded
calls and give a rating based on
the selected call.
Sampling Methods:
If you are using statistical
analysis using Excel 2010, you
can make use of two sampling
methods in Excel for retrieving or
identifying items in your data set:
• Periodic: In this case, you
specify the Period n at which you
want sampling to take place. The
nth value in the input range and
every nth value thereafter is
copied to the output column.
Sampling stops when the end of
the input range is reached.
• Random: In this case, you
specify the Random Number of
Samples. This number of values
is drawn from random positions in
the input range. A value can be
selected more than once. (I.e.
sampling is with replacement).
Terminologies
Analysis ToolPak: The Analysis
ToolPak is an Excel add-in
program that provides data
analysis tools for financial,
statistical and engineering data
analysis.
Charts: A simple Excel chart can
say more than a sheet full of
numbers. As you’ll see, creating
charts is very easy.
Conditional Formatting:
Conditional formatting in Excel
enables you to highlight cells with
a certain color, depending on the
cell’s value.
Filter: Filter your Excel data if you
only want to display records that
meet certain criteria.
Pivot Tables: Pivot tables are
one of Excel’s most powerful
features. A pivot table allows you
to extract the significance from a
large, detailed data set.
Solver: Excel includes a tool
called solver that uses techniques
from the operations research to
find optimal solutions for all kind
of decision problems.
Sort: You can sort your Excel
data on one column or multiple
columns. You can sort in
ascending or descending order.
Tables: Tables allow you to
analyze your data in Excel quickly
and easily.
What-If Analysis: What-If
Analysis in Excel allows you to try
out different values (scenarios) for
formulas.
M13: INTRODUCTION TO
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.
Algorithm
What Is an Algorithm?
An algorithm is a finite list of
instructions, most often used in
solving problems or performing
tasks. You may have heard the
term used in some fancy context
about a genius using an algorithm
to do something highly complex,
usually in programming. Indeed,
you’ve most likely heard the term
used to explain most things
related to computer processes.
However, what would you say if I
was to tell you that there is a very
good chance that you, yourself,
have followed an algorithm? You
may have followed some
algorithms hundreds or
thousands of times!
A Real Life Algorithm
Have you ever baked or cooked
something? One of the most
obvious examples of an algorithm
is a recipe. It’s a finite list of
instructions used to perform a
task. For example, if you were to
follow the algorithm to create
brownies from a box mix, you
would follow the three to five step
process written on the back of the
box.
One of the attributes of an
algorithm is that, since it is a list
of instructions, there is some
step-by-step process that occurs
in order. Very often, the order that
the steps are given in can make a
big difference. Suppose we were
to reorder the steps of the recipe
on the back of the brownie box
and told somebody to put the
brownies in the oven for 22
minutes before we told them to
preheat the oven. That would be
silly! That’s why the ordering of
the steps is very important.
History of Flowchart
The first structured method for
documenting process flow, the
“flow process chart”, was
introduced by Frank and Lillian
Gilbreth in the presentation
“Process Charts: First Steps in
Finding the One Best Way to do
Work”, to members of
the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in
1921. The Gilbreths’ tools quickly
found their way into industrial
engineering curricula. In the early
1930s, an industrial
engineer, Allan H.
Mogensen began to train
business people in the use of
some of the tools of industrial
engineering at his Work
Simplification Conferences
in Lake Placid, New York.
Art Spinanger, a 1944 graduate
of Mogensen’s class, took the
tools back to Procter and
Gamble where he developed their
Deliberate Methods Change
Program. Ben S. Graham,
another 1944 graduate and
director of Formcraft Engineering
at Standard Register Industrial,
applied the flow process chart to
information processing with his
development of the multi-flow
process chart, to present multiple
documents and their
relationships. In 1947, ASME
adopted a symbol set derived
from Gilbreth’s original work as
the “ASME Standard: Operation
and Flow Process Charts.”
Douglas Hartree in 1949
explained that Herman
Goldstine and John von
Neumann had developed a
flowchart (originally, a diagram) to
plan computer programs. His
contemporary account was
endorsed by IBM engineers and
by Goldstine’s personal
recollections. The original
programming flowcharts of
Goldstine and von Neumann can
be found in their unpublished
report, “Planning and Coding of
Problems for an Electronic
Computing Instrument, Part II,
Volume 1” (1947), which is
reproduced in von Neumann’s
collected works.
The flowchart became a popular
tool for describing computer
algorithms, but its popularity
decreased in the 1970s, when
interactive computer
terminals and third-generation
programming languages became
common tools for computer
programming since algorithms
can be expressed more concisely
as source code in
such languages. Often pseudo-
code is used, which uses the
common idioms of such
languages without strictly
adhering to the details of a
particular one.
Nowadays flowcharts are still
used for describing computer
algorithms. Modern techniques
such as UML activity
diagrams and Drakon charts can
be considered to be extensions of
the flowchart.
Flowchart Best Practices
There are a few things you can
do to make your flowchart
universally accepted. And there
are some things that you can do
to make it visually pleasing to
others as well.
If you’re planning to share your
flowchart or hoping to use it one
presentation etc. then it’s wise to
use standard symbols. However,
it is important to remember that
the idea is to give out information
in an easy to understand manner.
It is perfectly acceptable to use
an alternative image instead of
the document symbol as long as
the audience understands it.
Keeping the arrow flow to one
side, using the same size
symbols, naming the decision
blocks, processes, arrows, etc.
are few things you can do to
make it better. The common
mistakes section covers most of
Basic Symbols
The basic symbols are as follows:
Terminator
Diagrams should begin and
ideally end with the terminator
symbol. However, this rule is not
as strict as it was in the UML
Activity diagram. The terminator is
usually drawn as a rectangle with
distinctly round corners. In some
diagrams, however, you may also
encounter an ellipse or circle. The
terminator where the process flow
starts usually contains the “Start”
text and the one where the
process ends the “End” text.
Some diagrams have multiple
end points and some none. You
can encounter diagrams where
the last process is round and
works as a terminator for the sake
of simplicity.
Process
We draw the individual steps of
an algorithm/process as
rectangles, except for a few
special ones, such as the already
mentioned terminator or other
processes mentioned below. The
process has square corners in
some diagrams and rounded
corners in others. However, it
should be safely distinguished
from a terminator which corners
are rounded more.
Data (Input/Output)
Most programs respond to the
input and output (I/O). We draw
these processes as a shape of a
parallelogram. We typically read
data from the user and store them
into variables or we print some
data back to the user. Although
there are other special symbols
for reading and writing data
from/to the user, most of
diagrams use only this symbol. In
the example below, the program
would print the text “Hello World”
to the user.
Decision
Perhaps the last symbol, needed
to create valuable diagrams, is a
diamond, which indicates the
decision. From a programming
point of view, it’s a condition.
Loops are also usually drawn
using conditions, we return one
branch from the end to the
beginning of the condition,
creating a loop.
We can see that there are more
symbols used in flowcharts than
in Activity diagrams. We can say
that the UML Activity diagram is a
simplified and standardized
flowchart.
Additional flowchart symbols for
working with data
Flowcharts offer more symbols to
work with data, some may come
in handy, others you’ll probably
never use.
Database
We usually draw a database as a
cylinder. A similar graphical
notation is also used for a hard
drive.
Internal storage
We draw internal storage, which
is most likely representing RAM
nowadays, as a rectangle divided
unevenly into 4 parts. The symbol
can be used e.g. to work with
memory cache. For classic
operations with variables use
parallelograms from the standard
symbol set.
Direct Data and Stored Data
Direct access devices are
understood to be hard drives. The
second symbol below indicates
any process of working with
stored data that can’t be drawn in
any other way (see other
symbols).
Extract, Merge, Sorting, Collate
Flowcharts provide several
symbols for data manipulation. In
the picture below, we can see
from the left:
• Extract - Extracting one or more
parts of a data set. Sometimes it
may also refer to splitting the flow
into multiple processes.
• Merge - Merges some data
together. Sometimes it can be
used to represent a merger of
several flows or even
measurements. You can see that
flowcharts are not standardized
diagrams.
• Sort - Sorting data.
• Collate - Organizing data,
typically to a standard format or
cluster.
Old data storages
Since flowcharts have been used
for a long time, we can introduce
symbols for historical storage
devices just as a small
distraction. These days, you will
probably never see them. From
the left, there is a punched tape,
paper tape, and a magnetic tape.
You can also see the symbol for
multiple tapes.
Other flow control symbols
Sometimes we need to use other
symbols that affect the diagram’s
flow. These are:
On-page and off-page connectors
Using on-page connectors which
we draw as circles with textual or
numeric labels we can move to
different places within the same
page of the diagram. We usually
use them where it’d be difficult to
connect the symbols by a line,
e.g. because they are far apart.
Off-page connectors work the
same way, but allow the control
flow to continue on another page.
Subroutine
Function, method, procedure,
subprogram, subroutine...
However your programming
language calls a predefined
functionality, you can draw it
using a rectangle symbol divided
into 3 vertical parts.
Delay
In the diagram, we can pause the
flow for a certain period of time
(for example, for 1 second while
controlling some machine), or we
can, for example, wait for data to
return. We draw a delay as a
rectangle strongly rounded on the
right side.
Or == It make sense to use
decision symbols in some
diagrams. These are logical “or”
and logical “and”. We draw them
as a circle crossed 2 times
diagonally or vertically and
horizontally. For classic programs,
use the decision symbol instead
Other input/output symbols
In most I/O cases, we only use
parallelogram. There are,
however, several other symbols
that we can use for these
purposes.
Display
The symbol of the cathode tube is
a display symbol. It makes sense
to use it especially if you’re using
a display that is not the standard
output of the application.
Document and Multi-Document
To create, read, or eventually
print documents, we can use the
document or multi-document
symbols. We draw them as a
rectangle with a wavy bottom.
Manual input
If, for some reason, it’s not
enough for us to draw an input as
a standard parallelogram, we can
use the manual input symbol. The
manual input indicates an action
when the user enters data into
the system. The graphical
notation is a rectangle with the
upper left corner cut across the
whole top edge.
Other symbols
Let’s mention several more
symbols that you can see in
flowcharts. There are even more,
but in most cases, a basic set
mentioned at the beginning of
today’s lesson is enough.
Annotation
Annotations or footnotes are a
way to add comments to a
diagram. We draw annotations as
“forks” and connect them with a
full or dashed line to the point to
which they refer.
Loops
As has been said, loops are often
drawn by the decision symbol. In
some diagrams, you can
encounter a notation using the
Preparation symbol (on the left)
or the Loop limit symbol (on the
right).

The Preparation symbol, a

rectangle with spikes on the left
and right edges, can also be used
generally for all initialization or
Documenting a Process Across
preparatory operations.
Functional Groups | What is a
Types of Flowcharts Swimlane Flowchart

Planning a New Project | Basic Businesses often have internal or

Process Flowchart
One of the most frequent uses of
flowcharts is to map out a new
project. Engineers and software
designers often use flowcharts for
this purpose, but others may find
them useful, as well. They are
particularly helpful when the
project will involve a sequence of
steps that involve decisions.
Here’s a basic flowchart that
shows this:
external requirements for process
documentation. Flowcharts are an
excellent tool for these purposes.
From standards reporting to
complying with government
regulations, using a flowchart can
be much more efficient than a
written narrative.
Here are some examples of
external pressures that require
process documentation:
• BPM Automation: Documenting
processes is a prerequisite for
automated BPM (Business
Process Management).
• ERP: Documenting processes is
required as part of an Enterprise
Resource Planning
implementation.
• Company Sale: Documenting
processes is an important
preparation when positioning a
company for eventual sale.
in cases where processes have
multiple stages, work across
departments, or have other
separated categories a swimlane
flowchart or cross-functional
flowchart may be the better
choice. It visually separates the
process into separate categories.

• Compliance: Various legislation

and regulatory bodies, like the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Joint
Commission, for example, often
require extensive process
documentation.

• Customers: Some customers

may require ISO or other quality
certifications as a prerequisite for
doing business.

There may also be internal

reasons for using flowcharts to
document processes.

• Flexibility: Both new and existing

employees can immediately learn
the right way to perform any job.
• Quality: If everyone on the team
performs a job in the same way
each time, the outcome is
predictable and consistent.
• Visibility: Management can see
exactly how each job is meant to
be performed.
• Process Improvement: You can't
improve the way your
organization gets its work done
unless you know how it's being
done now.
Managing Workflow | What is a
Workflow Process
Systems for managing workflow
are best illustrated using a
workflow diagram. These systems
can focus on process integration,
human task orientation, or both.
The goal is to create a consistent,
quality output based on a
standardized set of procedures.
Here is an example of a simple
workflow diagram:

A basic flowchart will often

suffice for process
documentation. However,
Making a Decision |
What is a Decision
Flowchart
A decision flowchart lets
you visualize the options
in any important
business decision. Walk
through potential outcomes and
make sure you consider all the
questions before making a
decision.
Modeling a Business Process |
What is an EPC Diagram
Business processes can cover a
wide range of activities. They
might be a simple set of tasks or
a complex array of them that
cover a number of possible
situations. Modeling these
processes is done to ensure a
consistent, predictable outcome.
Documenting or modeling a
business process is using an
event-driven process chain (EPC)
diagram. A basic example is
shown here:
The EPC diagram is a specialized
type of flowchart designed
specifically for this purpose. It has
a unique library of symbols not
found in traditional flowcharts.
Auditing a Process | Process
Map
Flowcharts may be used for
diagnosing a malfunction or to
troubleshoot problems. These
uses are common in the fields of
software and electronics. But they
aren't confined to just these
disciplines.
Business organizations also use
flowcharts for process
improvement. Breaking down
processes into smaller steps,
then examining them closely can
reveal areas of both operating
inefficiency and opportunity for
improvement.
A process map is a detailed
flowchart that is a useful tool for
auditing a process. There are four
steps used in creating a process
map:
1. Identifying and understanding
the steps in a process.
2. Gathering information to
identify the objectives, risks and
controls in a process.
3. Interviewing the individuals
involved and creating the process
map.
4. Analyzing and effecting
changes to improve the process.
Mapping Computer Algorithms
| SDL Diagram

Brainstorming computer
algorithms is often accomplished
using an SDL diagram. SDL
stands for Specification and
Description Language. This is a
flowchart that offers a unique set
of symbols that are used to map
out real-time systems. The three
basic components of an SDL
diagram are the system definition,
the block, and the process.

One of the reasons that

flowcharts are used frequently for
program and network design is
that they also offer a good
resource for internal problem
solving. They are also a great
way to show customers how to
troubleshoot common problems,
because they are visual and are
easy to follow, when presented
properly.
Data Management | Data Flow
Diagram
Data flow diagrams (DFD) are an
efficient way of bridging the
communication gap between
system developers and users.
They are specialized flowcharts
that distill a substantial amount of
information into a relatively few
symbols and connectors.
Chemical and Process
Engineering | Process Flow
Diagram

A process flow diagram (PFD) is

a technical illustration also known
as a flowsheet. It is used to
exhibit high-level processes in
chemical and process
engineering. The PFD will focus
on major plant processes but not
show minor details. This type of
diagram is used for a wide range
of engineering applications. Flowchart Software

• Oil and petroleum refining 1. Miro – Free online collaborative

• Natural gas systems
• Green energy, such as wind and
solar power
whiteboard platform with ample
planning templates, including
easy flowcharts.

• Water treatment and processes

• Electrical power plants

• Piping and irrigation systems

A flowsheet or PFD that details

multiple processes is often called
a block diagram or a schematic
flow diagram.
• Over 5 million teams use Miro
mind mapping, using the
software’s infinitely zoomable
canvas and web whiteboard that
enables your team to plan in any
way that suits them. Miro outlines
different types of flowchart
options for users—Process
flowchart, Workflow chart,
Swimlane flowchart, and Data
flowchart—and helps guide them
as they get started creating.
• They have a range of templates
in their pre-built library with a
flowchart build being one of many
options. This makes it easy to get
started, scoring them favorably in
the evaluation consideration for
Usability.
• Their deep integrations with
today’s most popular and trusted
tools like Dropbox, Box, Google
Suite, JIRA, Slack, and Sketch tie
into your existing workflow within
this scalable online flowchart
software.
• Overall, Miro is a smart,
comprehensive flowchart option.
It would be made even better if it
tracked change history more
thoroughly. But this doesn’t stop
Miro from being a valuable
product, particularly with a
freemium plan available so it’s
easy to get started.
• Miro is free to use for up to 3
editable boards. Paid plans start
at $8/user/month for teams of
between 2 to 19 individuals.
2. Microsoft Visio – Popular tool
for making flowcharts, diagrams,
org charts, floor plans,
engineering designs, and more
• With Visio flowcharts, multiple
team members can work on
diagrams at the same time. You
can connect your flowcharts and
diagrams to real-time data so that
changes in underlying data is
reflected through applied shape
formatting. A web version of the
software lets you work on your
flowcharts anywhere, in any
browser.
• In the Usability and Features
sections of our evaluation criteria,
we stress one thing: Variety! A
good flowchart app will let you
pick through a library of useful
diagrams and chart templates in
order to cater to each unique use
case. MS Visio does this well,
offering charting options fitted to
different needs.
• Visio doesn’t have a ton of
software integrations to tout but,
of course, it connects with
Microsoft OneDrive. Third-party
integrations include: Lucidchart,
The VIP Test Modeller, AxisTV,
netTerrain Logical, and Digital
Enterprise Suite.
• MS Visio would benefit from a
more seamless integration with
apps like PowerPoint, Excel,
Google Sheets, and Google
Slides. Being able to easily import
or drag-and-drop diagrams into
common visual presentation tools
would take this app to the next
level.
• Microsoft Visio starts from
$6.40/user/month and has a free
trial.
3. Gliffy – Drag and drop diagram
builder with a stack of ready-
made templates, plus an HTML5
editor to create larger-scale
visuals
• Gliffy’s clean and simple
interface makes building data-
driven flowcharts intuitive
• Gliffy diagram and flowchart
software is a drag-and-drop
based diagram building that lets
you sketch and share your
flowchart ideas with little to no
fuss. Templates and themes are
available for time-saving starting
points and the ability to preserve
and track changes will make sure
you never lose something
important.
• Gliffy nails many of the
requirements we have in the
evaluation criteria for features
and functionality: Intuitive
interface, including for object
importing; shapes conveniently
snap to grid; revisions can be
rolled back in the event of an
error, and it has easy editing and
sharing capabilities.
• Gliffy software integrates with
many other apps, including
WordPress, Jira Software and
Jira Service Desk, Lucidchart,
Atlassian Confluence, Bitium, and
Nuclino.
• A broader color customization
pallet would have helped the
charts tell a better data story,
particularly in flowcharts with a lot
going on visually. Furthermore,
the software was a little buggy in
the Google Chrome browser.
Minor complaints for an otherwise
solid tool.
• Gliffy starts from
$4.99/user/month and has a free
14-day trial.
4. Edraw Max – Loads of
professionally designed
templates, plus easy exports to
Visio, PDF, Word, PPT, JPEG
and/or Html
• The sheer number of templates,
icons and shapes make Edraw a
stand-out competitor in our
evaluation criteria for Features &
Functionality. Graphic elements
aplenty and a robust templates
stockpile are one of the selling
features of this tool.
• Integrates with the likes of
PowerPoint. They also have an
unconventional integration offer
where OEM partners can
integrate Edraw technologies with
their own procust and distribute
that package to customers as a
sublicence. You can also export
your drawings to a variety of
familiar file formats, such as Visio,
PDF, Word, PPT, JPEG, Html,
and more.
• Some more traditional app
integrations would have been a
nice touch, although Edraw’s
communication with PowerPoint
is of great value. Furthermore,
some sort of eraser tool would go
a long way to making Edraw feel
complete.
• Edraw Max starts from
$8.25/month and has a free 30-
day trial.
5. Creately – 50+ types of
diagram templates, plus 1000s of
examples. Sports plugins for
Confluence, JIRA and FogBugz
• Thousands of templates and
shapes paired with intuitive
drawing tools and precision
controls make Creately a robust
option for creating flowcharts and
diagrams for a variety of business
purposes. Their flowchart
software supports lean and agile
methodologies and lets you run
process mapping and redesign
projects with multiple teams and
clients.
• Create nails the category of user
interface when it comes to our
evaluation criteria spectrum. They
have a clean, aesthetically
pleasing look that is intuitive to
use and navigate. The design is
straight forward, collaboration and
sharing is easy, and the fact that it
works both offline and online is an
added bonus.
• Software integrations include G
Suite and Atlassian Confluence.
Unfortunately, one downside of
the software is the lack of other
easily accessible integration
options.
• The free version of the software
allows for only up to 3
collaborators, so you will need a
paid plan for larger teams.
Furthermore, it can be
challenging (or impossible) to
organize folders or move drawing
between different folders once
you have set them up initially.
More flexibility in organization
would be welcomed.
• Creately starts from $5/month
and has a free demo as well as a
free trial.
Flowchart Examples
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 –
Calculate Profit and Loss

The flowchart example below

shows how profit and loss
can be calculated.

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.

Terminologies

Business Process Modeling

Diagram is a graphical
representation for specifying
business processes in a workflow.
Cross Functional Flowchart is
often used to show the
relationship between a business
process and the functional units
(such as departments)
responsible for that process.
Data Flow Diagram is a
significant modeling technique for
analyzing and constructing
information processes.
Document Flowchart is
commonly used to trace the
movement of a document, such
as internal memos, payroll
information and interoffice mail
through a system.
Highlight Flowchart is used to
create good-looking style
flowcharts.
Procedure Flowchart involves
creating a flow chart model that
illustrates and analyzes the
overall flow of activities in
producing a product or service.
SDL Diagram is widely used to
model state machines in the
telecommunications, aviation,
automotive and medical
industries.
System Flowchart helps to
understand how complex systems
work. Systems analyzed may be
anything from businesses,
through biological population
models, to the impact of social
policy, etc.
Value Stream Mapping is a
mechanism to improve cycle
times and productivity by visually
separating value-adding from
non-value-adding activities.
Workflow Diagram is used to
create diagrams of information
flow, business process
automation, business process re-
engineering, accounting,
management and human
resources tasks.

Process is used to show a

progression or sequential steps in
a task, process or workflow.

Process Flowchart is also

known as the system flow
diagram or SFD. The main reason
of using process flowchart is to
show the relation between major
parts of the system.

Program Flowchart is a graphic

representation of an algorithm,
often used in the design phase of
programming to work out the
logical flow of a program. It
demonstrates how a program
works within a system.