UML modelling with fridge-magnets

Whiteboards are a great UML case tool. They help to make modelling a social activity. They help to emphasize that the act of modelling and the understanding it produces is just as valuable as the resulting model. The wipeability of whiteboards is also a great feature. It encourages modification and experimentation.

Whiteboards are not so good when you want to rearranging a diagram though. But... it occurred to me that if the whiteboard is magnetic then fridge-magnet-style UML-shapes might help. So I found a company that sells magnetic sheet and paid a bit extra to have it coated with a dry-wipe surface. The first sample arrived today and I've made my first prototypes. I cut out two sizes of rectangles and edged them with a permanent marker. Here's one of the larger ones (the background is a tablecloth not wallpaper!)



Now simply stick them on the whiteboard - they stick to each other of course:



Here's the big rectangles vertically in 3-section class format:



And horizontally for packages (just draw on the top-left tab):



Here's a 1-section only class diagram overview made from the smaller rectangles:



And just for Pete Goodliffe here's a Booch cloud:



I'm also going to cut out some ellipses for use-cases/scenarios and some rounded rectangles (roundtangles) for activities/states.

8 comments:

  1. "So I found a company that sells magnetic sheet and paid a bit extra to have it coated with a dry-wipe surface"

    What was the company?
    How much did you pay?

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  2. The company is called Eclipse Magnets (UK). Their phone number is 0114 225 0600
    I paid about £60 for a 5m x 60cm roll, which is loads. If you're going to the ACCU conference I'd be happy to give you some as a sample.

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  3. Thanks Jon,

    I posted here as I thought others would benefit to.
    We called them and it all checks out. We'll be ordering some for use in the office here. Thanks for the tips.

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  4. Or use index cards with magnets stuck to the back of them (or just lay them out on a big table): http://www.thenewsbeforethenews.com/2006/08/06/modelling-with-uml-dominoes/

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  5. I've just cut a small square from the roll and sellotaped it to an index card to try it. Simple and effective. Thanks James.

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  6. What's the advantage of the index cards over the dry wipe surface?

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  7. You could use different coloured index cards for one I guess.

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  8. /me now wonders if I can ordered dry-wipe surfaced magnets of different colours

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