Lotus Diagram Template
Visualize themes and explore alternative paths with a Lotus Diagram Template. Innovate when brainstorming and sharing ideas.
About the Lotus Diagram Template
The lotus diagram template is a creative-thinking technique, also known as the "lotus blossom technique.” Proposed by Michael Michalko, it helps you expand your thinking beyond your usual paths. The lotus blossom technique focuses the power of brainstorming on areas of interest by using a visual representation of an idea. It's similar to mind mapping (but more structured) and pushes you in ways you don’t find in classic mind mapping.
What is a lotus diagram?
A lotus diagram is a brainstorming and organization tool. It helps define key concepts or parts of a broader picture. The center of the diagram represents the main idea, with eight surrounding boxes representing additional concepts.
Brainstorming can be a frustrating experience. Sometimes, your team comes in with a thousand ideas they’re ready to share. Other times, the well runs dry. A lotus diagram can empower you to run smoother, more effective brainstorming sessions. Use this lotus diagram template to visualize themes and explore alternative paths.
How to use a lotus diagram template
Start with a central idea or theme, and then expand outwards with solution areas or related themes in an iterative manner. The technique encourages you to have a fully fleshed-out idea space before considering the idea completed.
Benefits of a lotus diagram template
Many teams benefit from using a lotus diagram template, mainly because it gives a twist to a regular brainstorming session. Here are a few advantages of using the lotus diagram:
1. Have better brainstorming sessions
Lotus diagrams encourage lateral thinking. If people get stuck, you can return to the diagram to generate ideas that might be tangentially related to your main topic.
2. Promote logical thinking
In using a lotus diagram, you’re constantly filing topics according to their relationship to the main topic. That makes it a helpful tool for keeping your meetings focused and on task.
3. Foster creativity
A lotus diagram encourages you to ask critical, incisive questions about the main topic, generating new ideas for discussion.
4. Break down complex ideas
Lotus diagrams can be useful for discussing complex topics with many moving parts. By uncovering related ideas, you can better understand the main idea at the center of the diagram.
Getting started with Miro's lotus diagram template
When you use Miro to create the lotus diagram, you can:
Have endless space for your collaboration. Brainstorm ideas with your distributed teammates as if you were all in one room, and engage everyone in one visual workspace to ideate and discuss all topics together.
Customize and fill out the lotus diagram template as you go along. Change colors and add sticky notes and arrows to experiment with different ideas.
Upload documents and images to make your collaboration and ideation session more visual and vivid.
Save your completed lotus diagram in .JPEG or .PDF to always have it ready to view.
What is the purpose of a lotus diagram?
A lotus diagram is a brainstorming and organization tool. It is an effective thinking tool that helps you logically organize information to solve complex problems and manage tasks.
When should lotus diagrams be used?
A lotus diagram can be used in various ways within an organization. It is best used in a brainstorming process to help break down broad topics into smaller components to offer easy analysis and prioritization within a task.
Get started with this template right now.
Pie Chart Template
Works best for:
Education, Operations
Pie charts are an excellent way to present relationships between datasets graphically, where you can quickly compare information and see contrast right away. Professionals from many fields use pie charts to support their presentations and enrich their storytelling as it’s one of the most commonly used data charts.
Storyboard for Animation Template
Works best for:
Storyboard
The Storyboard for Animation template offers a structured approach to visualizing your animation from start to finish. With sections for scenes, actions, audio, and technical details, this template supports every stage of animation production. Perfect for animators and creatives, it enhances collaboration, ensures consistency, and brings your animated vision to life with clarity and precision.
Design Sprint Kit Template
Works best for:
Agile Methodology, UX Design, Sprint Planning
With the right focused and strategic approach, five days is all it takes to address your biggest product challenges. That’s the thinking behind Design Sprint methodology. Created by Tanya Junell of Blue Label Labs, this Design Sprint Kit provides a set of lightweight templates that support the Design Sprint’s collaborative activities and voting—and maintains the energy, team spirit, and momentum that was sparked in the session. Virtual sprint supplies and prepared whiteboards make this kit especially useful for remote Design Sprint Facilitators.
FMEA Analysis Template
Works best for:
Agile Methodology, Strategic Planning, Software Development
When you’re building a business or running a team, risk comes with the territory. You can’t eliminate it. But you CAN identify it and mitigate it, to up your odds of success. Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a powerful tool designed to help you manage risk and potential problems by spotting them within a process, product, or system. And you’ll spot them earlier in your process—to let you sidestep costly changes that arise late in the game or, worse, after they’ve impacted your customers and their experience.
Algorithm Flowchart Template
Works best for:
Flowcharts
The Algorithm Flowchart Template is a useful tool for simplifying the process of creating and understanding complex algorithms. Its pre-structured format makes it easy to lay out each operation and decision point in a clear and easily understandable visual format. This is particularly helpful for explaining intricate processes to team members who may not be as technically proficient in the subject matter. With each step clearly defined within its designated shape, the flowchart promotes clarity and makes it easy to identify the logical flow at a glance. This clarity is the template's most significant advantage, reducing cognitive load and enabling a more inclusive and straightforward approach to discussing and refining algorithmic solutions.
Job Map Template
Works best for:
Design, Desk Research, Mapping
Want to truly understand your consumers’ mindset? Take a look at things from their perspective — by identifying the “jobs” they need to accomplish and exploring what would make them “hire” or “fire” a product or service like yours. Ideal for UX researchers, job mapping is a staged process that gives you that POV by breaking the “jobs” down step by step, so you can ultimately offer something unique, useful, and different from your competitors. This template makes it easy to create a detailed, comprehensive job map.