Microsoft Visio

Creating professional-looking diagrams and charts

Documenting and designing complex systems or processes

Visio also offers a wide range of customization options, allowing users to tailor the appearance of their diagrams to their specific needs.

Visio also integrates well with other Microsoft Office products, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, making it easy to incorporate Micros Visio diagrams into other documents and presentations.

One area where Microsoft Visio could potentially improve in the field of systems engineering is in its support for model-based systems engineering (MBSE) approaches. MBSE is a method of designing and developing systems using graphical models, and it is becoming increasingly popular in the systems engineering field. While Microsoft Visio does have some support for MBSE, it may not be as comprehensive or advanced as other specialized MBSE tools.

Another potential area for improvement in Microsoft Visio for systems engineering is in its collaboration and teamwork capabilities. While Microsoft Visio does allow multiple users to work on a diagram simultaneously, it may not have as many features as other tools specifically designed for teamwork and collaboration. This could make it more difficult for teams to work together effectively on large or complex systems engineering projects.

A third potential area for improvement in Microsoft Visio for systems engineering is in its simulation capabilities. While Microsoft Visio does have some features for simulating processes and systems, these features may not be as robust or advanced as those found in specialized simulation software. This could make it more difficult for systems engineers to thoroughly test and validate their designs.

Org charts

N/A - have not encountered any issues

Modeling of the organizational structure

Modeling of the business-processes

IT-infrastructure modeling

UI-wireframe modeling

Collaboration in business-modeling

Enterprise Architecture linking

EA-standards support

Exporting in PDF format

Can utilize thousands of symbols from various categories like devices, flows, etc.

Simple interface

Able to download and apply stencils quite easily

There could be better integration between Visio and MS Word, especially when it comes to importing graphics from the one to the other.

User interface can be more user friendly for any user to use.

When creating connectors between objects, the glue type feature can be an option rather than the default.

A lot of techniques

Easy to use and combine shapes

Office 365 - [I believe] web view is valueless, don't invest a penny in it.

[In my experience,] pictures cannot be cropped and groups cannot be un-grouped

[In my experience, there is] lagging time even with high bandwidth

[In my experience, the] time to deliver same drawing in web view = 3X or 4X time of older desktop versions

Visio stencil functionality

Connectivity to a wide range of data sources

Pre-defined template

It requires more effort and experience to properly use connection points to connect two objects.

It is frustrating when connection points automatically connect to other objects. Due to this feature, manual alignment is difficult.

The Visio license is very expensive.

The library of icons and elements are big enough.

The predefined templates for projects are useful.

It makes the work fast and efficient.

It's easy to learn.

Sometimes auto-arrange does not correctly align the project diagrams.

Licence fees are expensive.

If you are doing projects for clients, your clients will not be able to change the process diagram if they do not have a Visio license.

Ready-to-use shapes

Easy-to-understand diagrams for both technical and non-technical audiences

Saves time with industry-standard shapes and templates

Microsoft Visio should be included in the suite of Microsoft Office products

Autorotation feature sometimes creates issues--it should be more flexible

Default shapes included can be more colorful, keeping business users in mind

Microsoft Visio is not very easy to use for non-technical business users

System drawings - drag and drop icons and simple drag and drop connectors

Process mapping - as with system drawing our process maps and drag and drop and easily connected and easily modified

Mindmaps/Brainstorming - makes simple clear maps that can easily be exported to other MS programs (word, PowerPoint etc.)

The main screen is very busy, even though it probably needs to be as Visio has so, so many functions.

It would be good to have some stock "title blocks" for tech drawings and wiring diagrams that are easily available

charts and diagrams

linking items between sheets

managing data

customizable

sometimes it crashes

more sketching features

rotating shapes is cumbersome

Visio is built just like any other Microsoft Office program, so anyone familiar with Office will find it relatively easy to use.

The automatic spacing of items on a page makes a Visio project look sleek and professional with little effort.

The pre-loaded shapes and symbols in Visio are consistent with what is being taught in business tools for appropriately flowing processes, so it takes the guesswork out of representing processes correctly.

Spacing things on your own can be difficult. It took me a number of google searches to figure out how to freely change the size of a swim lane, or that holding the shift key while using the arrow keys to move a shape will move it at a smaller scale. Knowing tips like these upfront would be helpful.

Creating master shapes would be helpful; when a shape is too big for a diagram, resizing it and then making sure all of the other instances are the same shape can be a pain.

A wider selection of templates would be nice.

Automated linking of diagram objects based on rules.

Vast array of diagram objects.

Easiest software to use for organizational charts.

Remove the block for click-to-run installation when used in conjunction with Office 365.

Reduce pricing for the on-line version of Visio if this is going to be the wave of the future.

Have better definition and detail requirements for objects provided by third parties for import into Visio.

Easy to use templates and UI.

Ability to work offline and one cloud support.

Infinite canvas and printing options makes it suitable for everyone to create and print.

The installer tool is clunky, rigid and uninviting.

The preloaded shapes and icons are limited in comparison to Lucidchart.

The user experience is not straightforward unless you take some basic tutorials.

Easy to create process flow/map.

Enhanced and in large number of icons or symbols for workflows.

License cost might be high for small businesses.

Process mapping

Intuitive interface

Reporting

Node connection facilities

Easy to find shapes and stencils.

Built-in templates.

The software is not intuitive.

It is quite expensive.

Powerful and clean visualizations.

Large library of industry-recognized shapes to leverage in your visualizations.

Sharing your diagram is not easy; printing or publishing is unfortunately not as easy as it could be.

Keeping shapes aligned could be easier. You have to have a good eye for spatial design to keep complicated diagrams easy-on-the-eyes.

Flowcharts.

UML diagrams.

Ease of use.

Tons of supported design diagram templates.

Could be faster.

Could take less time to load.

Could make a online version of the tool.

Flow charts

Network diagrams

Network logs, documentation

Microsoft Visio Viewer

GUI needs improvement

More shapes & figures need to be added esp in the network diagrams segment.

Visio is integrated with other Office suite products which is nice.

It is user-friendly. It doesn't take long to figure out how to get up and running while also providing advanced users options to add the bells and whistles they want.

The variety of standard templates is large and there are lots more custom templates you can download too.

It is an expensive license. I believe it's $500/person.

Not available for Mac/Linux users

Can't publish to certain web applications easily.

The templates for basic flowcharting are simple to use and cover most of the basic functions and touch points in a diagram.

The variety of included icons and connectors means it's very easy to create floor plans and/or network diagrams.

The ease at which you can customise connectors with different colours/thickness makes it very effective in overall presentation of a diagram.

For me personally I cannot highlight anything specific that has any bearing on how I use the product. Everything is very straightforward and clearly signposted including template desgins and categories. The layout is easy to navigate and as it's part of the MS Office ecosystem means there is less to learn as I'm used to a lot of the cross product functionality.

Visio provides a number of templates and a good selection of symbols and shapes to use.

The number of features and functionality is pretty robust, so you are not restricted in your ability to create with Visio how you visualize you want the results to be.

It is a commonly used product, so sharing with others is easy, plus since it integrates with other Microsoft products, that is helpful as well.

I find it not very intuitive, and that is after using it for a number of years.

I have difficulty formatting to a page for printing or even viewing in a presentation.

The ability to switch between text and textboxes and lines seems like it could be done easier. It seems like I am always in the wrong area.

It would be great if there was an easier way to find the correct symbol or icon you want. Often I can never find what I am looking for and need to improvise.

Very easy to use with multiple diagram tools

Lots of built-in options and templates and it allows you to import many more.

Reliable program - I've used it Visio for many years and it gets easier to use with each revision.

Would like to see more animated tools that could be used in workflows

As its a Microsoft program - cost is always an issue.

I like the built-in capabilities which make it easier to connect diagrams to data sources and display data graphically.

I like the different templates and layouts you can leverage within Visio from basic to advanced.

Visio is very user-friendly, making it easy to use and collaborate with other users around shared diagrams etc.

While Visio is easy to use overall, it does have some quirks and can be a little limiting in what you can do within the tool itself and collaboration can sometimes be limited as a result.

Work together on Visio flowcharts to include insights from all stakeholders.

With Office 365*, multiple team members can work on diagrams at the same time.

Connect your flowcharts and diagrams to real-time data.

Applied shape formatting automatically updates your flowcharts to reflect changes in the underlying data, either in Visio or through Office 365*.

Its inability to delve deeply into micro information successfully.

It is a paid software which comes after paying a Microsoft licensing fee.

The cost is high and the integration of the stencil library is unnecessarily fragmented.

The more you use it, the faster and more effective you will get.