draw.io -- fast and simple diagram creation you can share on Google Drive!
February 22, 2019

draw.io -- fast and simple diagram creation you can share on Google Drive!

Ben Marcoux Roofing Lead Generation Expert | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with draw.io

I use draw.io to map out funnels and sales strategies for myself and for clients. It's used across my company any time we need to map out and send a client a funnel for review, or when mapping out my own strategies for attracting and converting customers and clients. Before using draw.io, I had to use a software like "Paint" to draw out my Funnel Maps. The diagrams would come out looking messy and unprofessional. This wasn't good for my brand, because sending over something that looked like that does not make a great impression with a client. Even if the content is the same, people judge based on appearance. It also wasn't good because it took a long time to draw out a funnel and they could not be edited. Any time we had to make a change to the Funnel Map, we would have to start over from scratch. draw.io saves me so much time and it syncs with Google Drive making them easy to share.

Pros

  • draw.io makes it easy to edit whatever you're mapping out. Whether adding or removing a box, arrow, etc., draw.io automatically auto corrects your map and snaps things back into place. This keeps everything looking clean while you're working.
  • draw.io syncs with Google Drive which is awesome for collaboration. When I used other, offline software, I would have to complete whatever I was working on in draw.io, save the file and then add it to my Dropbox or Google Drive. From there, the person I was showing it to would have to download it and was unable to make revisions. draw.io makes it simple to send easy-to-edit in real time drawings to anyone through Google Drive.
  • draw.io is super simple to use. The interface is not confusing at all. All you have to do is point and click and the drawing builds itself out.
  • It's easy to add text and layer things together.
  • Copying and pasting whole sections of your drawing is easy and can save massive amounts of time. All you have to do is create a template once and then you can use it multiple times.

Cons

  • You can save a drawing to your Google Drive easily, but draw.io isn't the default program used to open them up. If you don't select draw.io from the dropdown (which is a little hidden) it will open as a weird image on your computer that can't be worked with or edited.
  • Sometimes (not all the time) when you delete a block or text, etc., all the other blocks shift around in a weird way so you have to re-organize them.
  • They don't work great on mobile. You can view them okay, but editing on mobile doesn't work.
  • The first way draw.io has had a positive impact on my business is through time saved. It used to take a long time to create a Funnel Map. And, with the old software I used, I wasn't able to edit them. Re-creating them every time I needed to make an edit took even more time. Now with draw.io I can quickly create my first draft and edit it whenever necessary.
  • The second way draw.io has had a positive impact on my business is through clients acquired. The draw.io diagrams make it really easy to map out the strategies I'll be employing for clients. My clients get to envision it themselves which gets them excited to work with me.
  • The third way draw.io has had a positive impact on my business is through collaboration. Since draw.io syncs up with Google Drive, it's easy to create and share diagrams with your team in real time.
I've used Mindmupp and Funnelytics. Mindmupp is pretty much exactly the same thing as draw.io. I didn't dive into it deep enough to be aware of it's special features (if any are available) but it seems to do the same thing. Funnelytics is like draw.io on steroids, in particular if you're in the marketing or advertising space. It's not really applicable if you're not in that space, but if you are I highly recommend you check it out. However, if you're looking for a simple, fast way to create diagrams that are easy to share online, draw.io works great.
draw.io will work well for you if you're looking to quickly put together a diagram or some other visual to help you and your team get on the same page. I use it particularly to build out, design, and share marketing and sales funnels with my team and clients. I have a visual brain, so being able to see things clearly laid out in front of me saves a ton of time and energy. It pulls ideas from the ether and solidifies them. I wouldn't use it if you're looking for a solution that works great on mobile when it comes to editing your diagrams. Also, if you're looking for lots of bells and whistles (i.e. adding beautiful custom graphics to a presentation) I wouldn't use this. It's much more my "in-the-trenches" get my ideas out into the real world FAST tool.

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