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March 13, 2009

Lovely Charts – You Think, We Draw

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The catch phrase for Lovely Charts, “You think, we draw,” is a bit of a misnomer, as it makes you think about a service where you submit an idea and they turn it into an illustration. Actually, with Lovely Charts you do the work of making a chart, but Lovely Chart’s online application makes the process so much easier – yes, even easier than other desktop flowchart applications currently on the market. The drag and drop functionality makes chart-making a breeze, especially for very complicated flow charts in which you could have dozens upon dozens of steps.

There are more complicated chart-making applications available, but these have both a steep learning curve and often are expensive – as opposed to free, which is another major selling point for Lovely Charts.

The basic vibe with Lovely Charts is “user-friendly,” but also “feature-rich,” as it can handle advanced and highly technical flow charts. It’s usable for a number of purposes: making sitemaps for the web, wireframes, illustrations for business reports, employee org charts – whatever the case may be. Not only is it helpful but it’s also fun to use, and you’ll have professional, attractive charts ready in no time.

Practical Uses:

  • Prioritize employees for a project by determining the chain of command for certain tasks and how new tasks will be distributed throughout a team
  • Organize a complicated website by figuring out which pages link to where and ensuring there’s smooth transitions throughout the site
  • Create a family tree
  • Create a traditional flowchart with the question/answer model: Do you have A, go to point B. No? Go to point C, and so on

Insider Tips:

  • Check out what other people have done: Lovely Charts has examples of sitemaps, flowcharts, and other ways people have used the service
  • Watch the screencast – it will show you the functionality of the app without having to figure it out on your own

What we liked:

  • It’s free – remarkable for such a good application
  • It’s easy to use
  • Built-in graphics to start making charts right away
  • Allows collaboration with other users
  • Each chart is protected so it can only be viewed by those with a password

What we didn’t like:

  • Although having password protection on each chart is a feature, there may be times that you want to share a flowchart with everyone – in these cases you will have to host the flowchart on your own server to show it the public
  • You can’t upload your own images at this time
  • With the free online version, you can only save one chart (you can create an unlimited number of charts, but only save one for later use)
  • A small quibble: their gallery does not let you see full-size version of the sample flowcharts to see how people have used the service in the past

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: February 2009
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
  • Founded by: Jerome Cordiez
  • Web site: http://www.lovelycharts.com

Costs:

  • Free or 3€ per month for Premium Service

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