# Brainstorming Diagram

> A brainstorming diagram puts one question in the center and groups ideas into themed branches, so gaps and open questions show up before design starts.

Canonical: https://mikereams.com/diagrams/brainstorming-diagram

Category: General Architecture  
Notation: Mind map  
Updated: 2026-10-03  
Author: Mike Reams (https://mikereams.com/about)

![Mind map: the question 'consolidate two ticketing tools?' sits in the center, with branches for drivers, constraints, options, risks and stakeholders, each holding two short ideas, and a dashed branch for open questions.](https://mikereams.com/figures/brainstorming-diagram.png)

## What it is

A brainstorming diagram, often drawn as a mind map, starts from one question and lets ideas branch out from it by theme. It is the cheapest diagram an architect draws and one of the most useful: it turns a messy conversation into a picture everyone can point at, and it shows which parts of a problem nobody has thought about yet.

## When to use it

- **At the start of a piece of work,** before anyone has proposed a solution.
- **In a workshop,** to capture what a room knows without arguing about it yet.
- **Before an options analysis,** to make sure the options cover the drivers and constraints.
- **When you inherit a problem,** to map what you know and what you still need to ask.

## How to draw one

1. **Write one question in the middle.** A question, not a topic: “consolidate two ticketing tools?” beats “ticketing”.
2. **Branch by theme.** Drivers, constraints, options, risks and stakeholders cover most architecture problems.
3. **Keep each idea to a few words.** If an idea needs a sentence, it is a finding for a document, not the diagram.
4. **Give open questions their own branch.** Mark them so they stand out, and give each an owner after the session.
5. **Promote what survives.** Options move into an options analysis, decisions into a decision record, risks into the risk log.

## Common mistakes

- **Starting with the answer.** A diagram built around a preferred solution only collects reasons to pick it.
- **One branch doing all the work.** A crowded options branch and an empty constraints branch is a warning, not a result.
- **Keeping it forever.** A brainstorming diagram is a working drawing. Once its ideas have homes, archive it.

## Related

- Writing: [Software Product or Business Application?](https://mikereams.com/writing/software-product-or-business-application)
- Writing: [A Disposition Is a Decision, Not a Field](https://mikereams.com/writing/a-disposition-is-a-decision-not-a-field)