30+ Flowchart Examples (With Guide, Tips and Templates)

30+ Flowchart Examples (With Guide, Tips and Templates)

Written by:
Chloe West

Nov 17, 2021
An illustration showcasing three different flowchart examples.

One tried-and-true visual format for dissecting complicated processes is the flowchart. You've probably seen all types of these, from humorous ones to those used in technical fields such as computer programming and engineering.

Flowcharts are diagrams that graphically represent a step-by-step progression through a procedure or system, and they’re extremely useful for demonstrating how things progress and explaining a subject or giving directions.

A flowchart done right can be a useful and entertaining tool; a flowchart gone wrong, not so much. We’ve compiled a list of flowchart examples for making important decisions in different fields, with helpful tips on how to create your own.

 

What is a Flowchart?

A flowchart is a graphical representation of a process. It’s a diagram that illustrates the workflow required to complete a task or a set of tasks with the help of symbols, lines and shapes.

Below are two examples of a flowchart:

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Flowcharts are used to study, improve and communicate processes in various fields. They are excellent tools for breaking down information and making it easy to understand and follow.

From sales, marketing, project management and HR to computer programming, administrative and service processes, flowcharts can help explain processes across all industries.

Here are some of the major types of flowcharts that businesses use:

  • Process Flow Diagrams: A process flow diagram illustrates the general flow of a process and the relationships between the major components.
  • Data Flow Diagrams: A data flow diagram visualizes how data is processed in an information system from input to output.
  • Workflow Diagrams: Workflow diagrams illustrate the steps involved to complete a task or execute a process in an efficient way.
  • Swimlane Flowcharts: A swimlane flowchart visualizes multiple flows of information or categories to help clarify roles and responsibilities.
  • Yes/No Flowcharts: Also known as dichotomous keys, yes/no flowcharts make it easy to visualize different paths based on yes/no decisions.

Remember, flowcharts aren't the only type of charts and graphs you need for your business. Scatter plots, bubble charts, Gantt charts, bar charts and line charts also have various applications.

 

Your Guide to Flowchart Symbols

Before you start creating your flowchart, you need to familiarize yourself with the different flowchart symbols and shapes.

Knowing what each shape means can help you create flowcharts that are universally understandable and prevent any confusion in interpretation.

Some of the most common flowchart shapes are:

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  • Oval: An oval shape is also called a terminator. It symbolizes the start or end of a process, which is why it is often used at the two end points of a flowchart.
  • Arrow: An arrow shows the direction of the process flow. For example, if your information is flowing from the left to right, you can use an arrow to depict it. You can also use two arrows pointing in opposite directions if the information is flowing in both directions.
  • Rectangle: A rectangle shape usually depicts a task, operation or process. This is what you’ll use for most of your flowchart is depicting a process with various tasks.
  • Parallelogram: This shape represents input or output of data or information in a flowchart. Parallelograms are mostly used in data flow diagrams.
  • Diamond: A diamond shape represents a decision in a flowchart, and is mostly used in yes/no flowcharts or dichotomous keys.

 

30+ Flowchart Examples to Inspire You

Need to create your own flowchart, but have no idea where to start? Don’t worry — making a flowchart doesn’t have to be complicated.

First, we’ve got a 7-step guide on how to make a flowchart. Second, we’ve got over 30 unique flowchart examples to help you get those creative juices flowing.

Once you’ve found the perfect flowchart example, you can recreate your own version using Visme’s flowchart maker.

 

Flowchart Example #1: Do You Have Impostor Syndrome?

A flowchart is the perfect decision-making tool, helping you to navigate through complex questions or concepts. Here, we have a question asking Do You Have Impostor Syndrome?

Impostor syndrome is the name for the feeling that one isn’t good enough at something, or feeling like a fraud at a job you’ve been assigned, even when (or especially when) you do know what you’re doing and are actually quite good at your job.

Helping people to pinpoint if they have impostor syndrome can help them work to overcome it, hence this flowchart.

This flowchart not only helps people determine if they have impostor syndrome, but at the bottom, it has personality types based on each person’s answers throughout the flowchart.

See if you can come up with your own version of this in order to engage your audience. Lead them through the flowchart until they have an answer/explanation for their responses at the end.

 

Flowchart Example #2: How to Reach Your Audience

While this is an older example, it still showcases a great way to design your own flowchart.

The same old arrows and lines can get boring. To make your flowchart much more interesting, try getting creative with your paths. This chart is a great example of this — the arrows are free-flowing and weave around and over each other, creating a unique vibe.

Moreover, the arrows serve a functional purpose, guiding the eye more freely toward their destinations. Experiment with different path types, from a free-flowing style such as this, to using items other than traditional arrows and lines, and see what works for you.

 

Flowchart Example #3: Site Map Flowchart

Flowcharts have a lot of really practical uses, including to pinpoint the proper flow of your website in a visual sitemap.

A flowchart showcasing a website sitemap.
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Taking notes from the flowchart example above, you can easily create your own sitemap based on your website’s navigation and how each of the pages should be laid out. Use a different shape for different page layouts or page types to differentiate them.

 

Flowchart Example #4: Will This Content Format Work For You?

Is your team just starting out with a new content marketing strategy? If so, this flowchart example is perfect for you.

This flowchart example is simple and to the point, and can be easily replicated. We also love how each blurb is more than just text, incorporating icons and visuals to make the overall flowchart more eye-catching.

 

Flowchart Example #5: Mobile SEO

Sometimes it helps to have additional information. However, adding too much to the flowchart can clutter it. Therefore, if you want to give a little more information, try including some notes at the end.

This flowchart on mobile SEO is a good example — it includes “key takeaways” at the end, helping to reinforce and flesh out the information already given.

A word of caution: Adding too much can cause as much clutter as including the information within the chart, so pick and choose what’s most important.

 

Flowchart Example #6: Is It Time to Rethink Your Website?

Another important aspect of a comprehensive flowchart is your color combinations. Having a coherent color scheme is a wonderful way to unite your flowchart.

This example on re-imagining your website uses blue, yellow and tan predominantly throughout, which goes a long way to create structure. The color choices also give a calming, professional feel. 

Experiment with colors and see which ones work best for your subject. Or to make it simple, consider just using your brand colors as a way to strengthen your overall brand recognition.

 

Flowchart Example #7: The Reality of My Creative Process

Not every flowchart has a variety of different branches. Some follow a singular linear process from start to finish, like we see in this example.

A flowchart showcasing someone's creative process.
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Consider how you could reuse an example or template like this to either outline your own creative process or come up with something entirely different to visualize.

 

Flowchart Example #8: Shoe Shopping Customer Journey

We love this flowchart example that is creating an eye-opening flow of how a customer would navigate through their website. In this case, it’s...not that great of a flow.

However, it’s a great idea to create your own flowchart to map out how customers would use your website to shop for products or sign up for services. Make sure there’s no feeling of disappointment or frustration throughout the process.

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Flowchart Example #9: Should You Hire an In-House Designer?

Need design work done for your company? This flowchart example — also a type of dichotomous key — navigates users through yes or no questions until they land on what option would be best for their business and needs.

While all three are wonderful options and might be the best fit for your business, we personally think that using a DIY design tool (like Visme) is the best way to bring design in-house on a budget.

 

Flowchart Example #10: How Good Is Remarketing For Search?

Flowcharts can even be used to compare different options, like we see in this example below. On one side, we showcase the process for search without remarketing versus search with remarketing, proving that one option is obviously better than the other.

A comparative flowchart template available in Visme.
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You can easily do the same with solutions that your business solves and use this as a sales or marketing tool. Customize the template above with your own content to get started.

 

Flowchart Example #11: What Color Should Your Logo Be?

A fun, creative way to attract attention to your chart is to use a metaphor. This example on choosing a color for your brand is a good example of this. 

It describes your brand as a song and uses the metaphor throughout to help you find the right brand color, which makes the subject more accessible and entertaining.

Flowcharts have a bad reputation of being boring, dry pieces of visual content. By getting creative with your flowchart, you get your users excited about interacting with your brand.

 

Flowchart Example #12: Choosing the Best Virtual Meeting Platform

This type of flowchart is perfect for businesses. While sometimes you might want to create a comparison infographic, this example is a great way to promote your service and what it’s best for.

Think about how you can create a similar flowchart and use it to promote your service offerings and showcase how they stand out from the competition.

 

Flowchart Example #13: Should This Meeting Be An Email?

Not every flowchart needs to pull out all the bells and whistles. In fact, you can create a really basic-looking flowchart that still gets your message across, like we see below with this example.

It’s the age old question — do you really need a meeting? Or could you just send an email or a Slack message and be done with it?

Put together a flowchart for a similarly infamous dilemma in your industry and see the kind of traction you can build.

 

Flowchart Example #14: Should You Try Display Ads?

Flowcharts are also great ways to help you come to a decision. In this example, we have a few questions and answers for whether or not you should test display ads for your business.

A flowchart to help you decide whether or not to use display ads.
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Also called a decision tree or tree diagram, this type of flowchart can be really useful for your audience. Customize the template above to create your own version.

 

Flowchart Example #15: The Best Podcasts to Listen To

Flowcharts like this example are incredible ways to promote your product or service. This flowchart would be genius in the hands of Soundcloud or Spotify or another popular podcast streaming service.

How can you use this for your business? The best shoes for a brunch outfit? The best shows to binge watch? The best social media platforms for your content? The possibilities are endless.

 

Flowchart Example #16: How to Choose a Business Partner

Create a header that really stands out like we see in this example below. Your flowchart doesn’t always need to be the star of the show.

We also love flowcharts that lead viewers to a solution at the end. This example on choosing a business partner does this well, including brief snippets to describe each result.

 

Flowchart Example #17: The Flow of Content Creation

Another great use case for a flowchart is to walk your viewers through a process. In this example, we see the flow of content creation, taking users all the way from the inspiration to editing and polishing off an article.

Think of ways that you can create flowcharts to demonstrate your own business processes in order to streamline the way that different tasks work.

You can also use process flow diagrams like this one to share with clients in order to showcase how your business helps improve workflows, saving both time and money.

 

Flowchart Example #18: Editorial Department Organizational Chart

Flowcharts are also perfect for organizing a hierarchy, like we see with this chart showcasing an editorial department’s head honcho and everyone underneath them.

An organizational chart template available to customize in Visme.
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This can be a great type of flowchart to include in an employee handbook or onboarding document to let new team members know who each person on their team reports to. 

Consider creating organizational flowcharts for each department in your office. You can easily get started by customizing the above template.

 

Flowchart Example #19: Dissertation Writing Services Workflow

A flowchart is also a great way to visualize a workflow. As we see in this example, the process is broken up into sections based on who is responsible for which tasks.

A process flowchart showcasing the process for dissertation writing services.
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You can easily customize this template to help visualize your own workflows at your company and share them with members of your team.

 

Flowchart Example #20: Should Your Business Be On Pinterest?

An easy way to lose your audience is to create paths that are difficult to follow. A flowchart is meant to guide a viewer clearly through several options — without that, you can easily lose and confuse others.

This flowchart, which answers the question if your business should be on Pinterest, is a wonderful example as it provides clean lines to direct the viewer's eyes between each subject.

 

Flowchart Example #21: What Type of Procrastinator Are You?

Humor is a great way to capture an audience’s attention, and this quiz-like flowchart on procrastination uses it to great effect.

 

Humorous comments, such as “Deadlines?! Panic stations!” litter the road to determining which type of procrastinator you are. The comments, combined with the subject, make for a much more entertaining read, and help the viewer retain the information.

 

Flowchart Example #22: Payroll Process Flow Diagram

Important processes in your business — like payroll — should always be visualized with a process flow diagram to make sure that no important steps are missed and that all employees are always being paid on time.

A process flow diagram template available to customize in Visme.
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You can easily use the template above and customize it to fit your payroll process or showcase a different process in your company.

 

Flowchart Example #23: Clinical Research Career Path

Another way to make your flowchart stand out is to get creative with your line designs. Bold lines, dotted lines or even something that isn’t actually a line at all, like we see in this example using roads.

A flowchart doesn’t have to fit in any specific boxes. As long as you’re guiding viewers from one section to another, you’re creating an epic flowchart.

 

Flowchart Example #24: How to Conduct a Successful Virtual Meeting

Your flowchart lines don’t even necessarily need to move around the canvas. As we see in this example, it can be just as effective to create a straight line that guides your reader down the page in a specific order.

We also love how each section is broken down even further to explain when to do each of the tasks listed.

 

Flowchart Example #25: Organization Hierarchy Flowchart

We covered a small example of an organizational chart earlier, but this hierarchy flowchart is even more creative. By including illustrations of each of the team members, this flowchart is anything but dry and boring.

A hierarchy flowchart template available to customize in Visme.
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These illustrations here are actually available right inside Visme. We have a variety of different “People” icons, and each element, down to skin color or shirt color, is customizable so you can visualize your own team members.

 

Flowchart Example #26: Are You Dealing With a Toxic Boss?

Grab attention with really provocative or controversial topics or questions like this one. As long as it’s relevant to your business and the types of content you create, this is a great way to make a splash with your flowcharts.

Additionally, use colors strategically throughout your flowchart. The red for negative choices and green for positive choices creates a nice contrast between the options.

 

Flowchart Example #27: Damages and Account of Profits

Flowcharts can be incredibly useful, and this two-tiered example shows exactly why. Instead of creating two totally different processes, Albright IP has given viewers a starting point for two different options, combining the workflow.

Consider ways that you could make this idea work for you so that you can spend less time creating useful flowcharts for your business.

Flowchart Example #28: What Kind of Pet Is Right For You?

While this example could be useful for a veterinary clinic or adoption center, not every flowchart needs to have a business use case. Consider how you can create fun flowcharts like this to send around the office and engage your employees, or to share on social media and have fun with your customers.

A flowchart helping you decide what kind of pet to get.
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You can even customize this exact template so you already have a starting point and inspiration for your next flowchart.

 

Flowchart Example #29: Troubleshooting a WordPress Theme

The day-to-day problems of our jobs can cause the most frustration, so giving straight-forward, helpful advice on such topics can be a lifesaver. Flowcharts that focus on these things — such as this example on fixing problems in WordPress — are extremely helpful in these situations.

Flowcharts have so many different use cases, but creating one to help your audience do or learn something is a win-win situation. Your audience will look to you as a trusted resource and you’ll have helped them out.

 

Flowchart Example #30: Should You Open Your Own Business?

Not every flowchart needs to include the standard lines and shapes. This one has standalone text between each arrow and instead uses icons and illustrations to really drive its points home.

 

Think about the different ways you can visualize each of your steps or concepts. Use a tool like Visme that offers over 10,000 different types of icons to help decorate your flowchart design.

 

Flowchart Example #31: Designing an Effective Virtual Meeting Agenda

Here is another creative flowchart design that really stands out. We’re talking about a meeting agenda, and this flowchart has essentially been transposed atop a notepad illustration.

When it comes to graphic design, getting creative about how you visualize your topic is key, and we’re loving this example.

 

Gather Inspiration From These Flowchart Examples

There are a lot of different ways to use flowcharts effectively, and we hope this list has inspired you. To create your own flowchart, you can get started for free with Visme’s flowchart maker and professionally designed templates.

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    About the Author

    Chloe West is the content marketing manager at Visme. Her experience in digital marketing includes everything from social media, blogging, email marketing to graphic design, strategy creation and implementation, and more. During her spare time, she enjoys exploring her home city of Charleston with her son.