Where’s the best place to start modelling?
Advice for the new modeller #1 - Where do you start?
Look for the pain
To start modelling any system, process or architecture, look for the pain points. Don’t model stuff just because you think it ‘might help’
- If your project has an issue with duplication of effort, then make sure your modelling approach deals with overlaps and re-use of ideas.
- If it’s managing changes, show how you can do that. Fast impact analysis, quick turnaround of new deliverables looks important.
- If it’s encouraging your stakeholders to engage with the project, then concise, customized documents or website access will be important.
Address these from the start, not as an afterthought. Thinking about these objectives will focus your modelling efforts, and you may end up doing less work than you thought.
More Insights
Using Excel to create an EA dashboard
16 February 2021
A simple example of an EA dashboard, to show how you can create your own and show the information in your EA model to your project team
Learn MoreProcess based model styles
25 August 2020
How to use BPMN and UML to make models which last.
Learn MoreModels matter - nearly as much as deliverables
25 August 2020
Models matter - nearly as much as model deliverables
Learn MoreImproving model quality using a Sparx EA reference model
25 August 2020
Maintain quality with tools to find and fix mechanical errors in your modelling
Learn MoreFixing your meta-model
25 August 2020
Advice for the new modeller #3 – Fixing your meta-model
Learn MoreHow much domain modelling is enough?
25 August 2020
Advice for the new modeller #2 – (not) Melting the Pan
Learn MoreWhat needs to be included in your EA model content?
25 August 2020
Advice for the new modeller #4 – (not) Modelling The World
Learn MoreKnowing when to give up
25 August 2020
Knowing when to step back makes for better Business Analysts
Learn MoreUsing Enterprise Architect to document decision making
25 August 2020
Make your models more useful for future modellers
Learn MoreBeck’s Map: an EA model abstraction example
25 August 2020
Possibly the best model abstraction in the world
Learn MoreSimplifying ideas in a BPMN Process Diagram
25 August 2020
How to find the right number of ideas to include in your model.
Learn MoreExplaining EA Sparx Systems to non-modellers
25 August 2020
Model driven analysis - the best way to define what we do?
Learn MoreHow to simplify BPMN Data Models
25 August 2020
Why simplifying your diagrams can actually make them more informative.
Learn MoreCreate useful models using the Sparx EA Tool
18 August 2020
Advice for the new modeller #3 - Producing useful outputs with your new EA tool.
Learn MoreBeginners guide to Enterprise Architect software
18 August 2020
Our advice for new EA modellers
Learn MoreUML Business Analyst Solutions
14 August 2020
Using UML to resolve inconsistencies, gaps and overlaps.
Learn MoreCleaning: How to Simplify Enterprise Architecture Models
14 August 2020
Model Curation Techniques # 1 - Cleaning your EA model before you let other people see it
Learn MoreIncluding Sparx EA Model Provenance
14 August 2020
Sparx EA model help to explain to others why your models look the way they do.
Learn MoreWhat to include in your enterprise architect documentation
29 July 2020
How to create documents which communicate your ideas efficiently and effectively to stakeholders.
Learn MoreOrganising an Enterprise Architect Model
28 July 2020
Seven ways to organise your EA models so that other people can understand them
Learn MoreChoosing Your UML Subset
27 July 2020
Narrowing down the modelling ideas in your Enterprise Architect model to make consistent, understandable models.
Learn MoreWebinar: Using Interactive Documents to Collate Sparx EA Model Feedback
17 July 2020
A webinar from the EA Global Summit 2020.
Learn MoreWebinar: How to successfully scale up your Enterprise Architect team
30 June 2020
A webinar from the EA Global Summit 2020.
Learn MoreNavigating Models: Enterprise Architect Help and Techniques
16 April 2020
EA Model Curation Techniques #2 - Making models easy to navigate.
Learn MoreValidation: Improving your Enterprise Architecture Model Structure
16 April 2020
EA Model Curation Techniques #3 - Validating your model
Learn MoreExplaining the General with a Specific
16 April 2020
Explaining ideas using Object diagrams
Learn MoreDifferent documents for Different People
16 November 2018
How to tailor information to each user - making it as easy as possible for everyone to engage with your work, project or deliverables.
Learn MoreColor your Knowledge
25 April 2018
A while ago a client asked me to look at some process diagrams which had been created for them by a well-known consultancy.
Learn MoreModel Curation
6 March 2018
How cleaning, navigating and validating your EA model makes sharing and collaborating much more effective.
Learn MoreContext - Where are we?
20 October 2017
I’m occasionally asked “What’s the most re-usable bit of a model – where should I start?“.
Learn MoreGlossary
12 October 2017
In a recent talk, I asked the audience of about 100 BAs which of them maintained a glossary as part of their work.
Learn MoreHard and Soft
11 October 2017
No, not about Brexit… More about styles of Business Analyst.
Learn MorePrinting connectors
18 October 2016
Creating documents that start with the connections between the things in your model
Learn MoreUsing Multi-hop relationships to display Branch/Merge with EA13
11 August 2016
One of the most common requests we see from new EA users is: "Why can’t I do branch/merge with EA?
Learn More
Compare pricing and features
Choose the eaDocX edition that’s right for you and your team
Compare PricingDownload a free trial
Take a free, no obligation, 30-day trial of eaDocX. Discover for yourself why it’s the world’s best-selling Enterprise Architect extension.
Download