As a visual thinker, I prefer expressing my ideas through sketches rather than text. Being a software developer, visualizing ideas is an integral part of my daily routine and requires me to convey a wide array of concepts. This includes everything from freeform sketches to more formal diagrams like Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERD), Unified Modeling Language (UML), and UI wireframes. Over time, I’ve experimented with various tools to facilitate this process. For freeform sketches, I use paper notebooks with pens, and then capturing these drawings as photos to store on my computer, or I sketch on apps like Apple Note using an iPad and Apple Pencil. For online meetings, tools like Excalidraw and tldraw have been invaluable. However, creating formal diagrams like ERDs and UMLs using these tools can be frustrating. For these, I’ve utilized more specialized diagramming tools such as StarUML, Lucidchart and draw.io.

All these tools are meant for visualizing ideas, yet using various tools has led to my notes becoming scattered and increasingly difficult to manage. Over time, it became challenging to even locate where certain sketch was stored. Additionally, switching to an iPad for the use of a digital pen proved to be very inconvenient. I felt fatigued having to switch between multiple apps and devices just to use a digital pen. I do not utilize many features of each tool; my primary need is simply to visualize ideas and convert them into images. Since I am more comfortable with a keyboard and mouse and primarily use desktops and laptops, I prefer to avoid switching to digital pens. To overcome these challenges, we decided to create a new sketchnote app that meets the following requirements.

• 🥰 A simple and intuitive interface
• 🖱️ Easy sketching with a mouse and keyboard
• 🖌️ Capable of both freeform sketches and formal diagram notation
• 🌎 Accessible anytime via a web browser
• 🖼️ Ability to export sketches in various image formats
• 👥 Collaborating with people in realtime

We developed DGM to fulfill these needs and are thrilled to release the open beta version to users for the first time.

🎁 Happy sketchnoting!

(updated 2024-05-07)