Comments on: Remind me … what’s so great about Omnigraffle?

By: Stewart Dean

Stewart Dean — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:44:53 +0000

I agree with you. Once you get past they hype and look at the interfaces Visio and Omnigraffle are much the same. I’ve even noticed some of the tips give here apply to Visio as well (Visio also has a style brush – click on a box with the style you want, DOUBLE click on the paint brush and click on all the things you want to make, say, green).

I am a Mac user first now with PCs at work and I use Visio on my Mac via Paralells as Omnigraffle offers no extra functionality I can see and is SLOWER to use. I can whizz around Visio and put together a diagram at speed, Omnigraffle, even having used it for two large projects, is always slower and the selection method alone is reason for me not use use it (I only want to select things totally inside my selection, not partly inside).

Omnigraffles interface is inconsistant, takes up a lot of space and contains to o many arbitary options.

There is a huge space out there for a IA orientated Visio killer but so far no one has come close in my view.

Stew Dean

By: randyd

randyd — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 19:44:12 +0000

I’m fairly new to Mac, I spent almost twenty years working in MS/Windows. I like Mac mainly because I have had a “crash” in more than a year (total time using MacOSX).
Why is OmniGraffle so “great”? Well, I’m not as sophisticated as many of those who have already commented but for me the biggest, most impressive feature of OmniGraffle is that I can create a flowchart from an outline I type within OmniGraffle. It’s easy, quick (enough), and simple enough to adjust all the features I need.
I’ve used Visio, I’d prefer AutoCAD. I tried Concept Draw, it was a lot like Visio.
As for the differences between Macs and PCs, while it is a trial to learn a different way of doing things you once thought fundamental, it is a totally better way!!! If you question that statement, how many times have you had to “hard” re-boot a PC? In over a year with my iBook I haven’t had to “hard” re-boot once. It’s stable, dependable and it “just works”

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:00:25 +0000

Okay! I need help. I have moved to a MAC from Windows. I love my MAC and have moved completely to the new system and refuse to use parallels! However I am having a hard time adapting to Omnigraffle from Visio. Does anyone know of an Omnigraffle swimlane template?

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 08:02:01 +0000

It’s worth noting that Omnigraffle Pro can import Visio XML files (with mixed results as far as I can tell). Also, if you have an Intel Mac and Parallels then you could run Windows and Visio on your Mac too. (And with Parallels’ ‘coherency’ mode, you get Windows windows interleaved with OS X windows.)

By: Shawn Medero

Shawn Medero — Tue, 29 May 2007 17:41:27 +0000

A little late to this thread but would you describe a few problems you’ve tried to tackle with OmniGraffle but didn’t find an acceptable solution?

As others have mentioned OmniGraffle is quite good at the stylistic stuff both in making objects look fantastic with minimal effort and cloning styles onto new objects. I’ve found the presentation mode fairly handy a few times too.

I think the biggest thing for me is the AppleScript component. I have scripts for automatically building a site map, making an ERD out of MySQL database, or programatic ways to alter styles based on various parameters (grow this size of this object based on the number of connections). AppleScript is a strange language but it is integrated into the entire OS far better than anything Windows or Linux/BSD have to offer. (For instance I’m making heavy use of the Python->Applescript bridge…) I know Visio does some of this easily for Microsoft products (Microsoft SQL -> Diagram) but I’m not so sure how hackable it is. On the Linux side, there are number of tools for working with graphviz and dia. Actually, this is a good time to point out that OmniGraffle works wonderfully with the graphviz “.dot” format. Any script that will output “.dot” files can be used with OmniGraffle. Likewise, if you own a copy of OmniOutliner it is easy to move back and forth between the two… many a time have I turned my outline notes into a diagram.

That said, the thing about scripting/Applescript is such a boon to geeks but I don’t know how make the experience easier for those who don’t have the time or desire to get their hands dirty. Perhaps some of this could be bundled up into Automator actions? *shrug* (By the way, the OmniGraffle mailing list is a decent resource for tips/tricks/scripts.)

By: Josh Cothran

Josh Cothran — Wed, 23 May 2007 20:48:07 +0000

(Doh – commented on the wrong post the first time. Is there a lesson here…?)

1) Having recently made the switch myself, I think in all fairness OmniGraffle isn’t THAT great. It’s certainly not as mature a product as Visio, but they’ve taken a more user-centered approach to the application design that gives is a more “ready-to-hand” experience (to borrow from Dourish/Heidegger) once you’re accustomed to using it. Probably my favorite feature is the ability to easily drag and drop individual features of one object onto another; I also find the output is usually more aesthetically pleasing.
2) I could say pretty much the same thing as (1) about Mac vs. Windows. It’s still just a computer, but after a while you find you’re somehow happier at the end of the day. I’m sure plenty of people could offer a few guesses as to why.

TIPS
The “OmniGraffle Shortcuts” graffle under Help goes a long way towards taking the pain away
David Pogue’s Mac OS X: The Missing Manual is an excellent primer; just the first couple of chapters we invaluable

By: pauric

pauric — Tue, 22 May 2007 11:00:17 +0000

http://urlgreyhot.com/personal/weblog/creating_prototypes_with_omnigraffle

short video on creating wireframes, demostrates the master canvass capabilities.

By: steve

steve — Tue, 22 May 2007 09:22:38 +0000

OH MY GOD!

Omnigraffle rocks soo much.

I have been using prototyping tools for 4 years now in several different companies, and i have to say that Omnigraffle beats them all.

Making a pixel fully working perfect clickable prototype to test just days after you have finished the wireframes is amazingly simple.

The layers and master canvas, make it effortless to control sections of your wireframes. For example if the nav model changes half way through a project, there is no need to change every wireframe.

There is a steep learning curve when you first start, but if you begin to use all the tools, then wow. You will never go back!

I promise.

By: pauric

pauric — Mon, 21 May 2007 13:15:38 +0000

Leisa:”I didn’t mean to suggest that user observation could make Omnigraffle easier to use”
Well, there’s always room for improvement with anything. I would guess we’re not the primary target user for this app though.

Question, how do you know you’re having “catastrophic failures” and not unavoidable bumps on the learning curve. Gotcha, aha! and grrr moments that dissipate with time, “issues” that in the wider scheme of things are a necessary part of the wholistic design.

My point is, and I’m not countering anything said, individual quantifiable usability metrics are fine. However I feel often they are not weighted with context. All to often if feel ‘usability’ aims for a one size fits all when thats rarely achievable.

/rant off

take care – pauric

By: leisa.reichelt

leisa.reichelt — Mon, 21 May 2007 12:13:30 +0000

hi Pauric – I hear what you’re saying and I agree. I didn’t mean to suggest that user observation could make Omnigraffle easier to use (although, perhaps it could… as you say, there is a learning curve involved and that’s to be expected for reasonably complex tasks and software).

My point about user observation is that it’s really easy to assume *basic* knowledge – and watching myself learn to use a Mac again and having catastrophic failures on seemingly simple tasks like saving a file to a location or finding the third level of folders in my email application (both, coincidentally(?), related to very poor use of triangles to indicate ‘expand’).
It was a note to self to try very hard not to make too many assumptions about where the base level lies, of that makes sense…