Hand-drawn flowcharts — BoardSnap reads the structure.
Short answer
Yes. BoardSnap AI reads hand-drawn flowcharts including process boxes, decision diamonds, connecting arrows, and labels. It generates a structured summary of the flow and identifies action items from the process steps, decision branches, and any open questions on the board.
## How BoardSnap reads flowcharts
A hand-drawn flowchart has three elements: shapes (boxes, diamonds, circles), labels (text inside or near shapes), and arrows (showing direction of flow). BoardSnap AI reads all three layers and interprets the flowchart as a process or decision tree.
Boxes (process steps) are read as sequential actions in the flow. Diamonds (decision points) are read as branching conditions — BoardSnap notes the decision question and the branch labels (Yes/No, Option A/B, etc.). Arrows define the sequence and direction — BoardSnap reads these as the order of the process.
The result is a summary that describes the flow in sequence, not just as a list of disconnected shapes.
## Common flowchart scenarios
Process documentation. Draw the team's current workflow — how a support ticket moves from open to resolved. Snap it. BoardSnap summarizes the process and identifies bottlenecks or undefined steps as action items.
Decision frameworks. Draw a decision tree for a product or business decision — what factors lead to which choices. Snap it. BoardSnap summarizes the logic.
Onboarding or SOPs. Draw the steps for a process that needs documentation. Snap it. The summary becomes the first draft of the written SOP.
Sprint planning. Map the development flow for a sprint — design → dev → QA → release. Each step with its dependencies. Snap it. BoardSnap extracts the steps and open questions as action items.
## What to expect from the output
BoardSnap produces prose summary and action items — not a machine-readable flowchart. If you need the flowchart in a tool like Lucidchart, Mermaid, or FigJam, use BoardSnap's summary as the input to re-draw it there.
## Tips for better flowchart reads
- Draw boxes and diamonds clearly, with labels inside or directly adjacent
- Use definitive arrow directions — avoid crossing arrows if possible
- Label branch conditions clearly ("Yes" / "No" or explicit condition text)
- Leave some space between elements — crowded diagrams are harder to parse
Frequently asked
Can BoardSnap output a flowchart in Mermaid or draw.io format?
Not currently. The output is a text summary and action items. Use the summary as the blueprint to recreate the chart in your preferred diagramming tool.
Does BoardSnap handle swimlane flowcharts?
Swimlane diagrams work, though the AI may simplify the lane structure. Labels within lanes are read and attributed to the process step; the lane header (team or role name) is noted in the summary.
See it work in ten seconds.
BoardSnap is free on the App Store. Snap a board — get a summary and action plan.