Learn in the textbookBusiness Modeling and Business Improvement / Automation
DefinitionA DFD (data flow diagram, データフロー図) is a diagram that traces where data in a business comes from, which processes it passes through and where it goes, that is, its flow.
ExplanationThere are four symbols: the process (drawn as a circle or similar), the data flow arrow showing data moving, the data store that holds data like a file or ledger, and the external entity, a person or organization outside the business that supplies or receives data. The diagram leaves out the order of processing and branching conditions and focuses on how processes change the data and where it goes.
AnalogyIt resembles a map of the route mail takes from the sender through a sorting office to the recipient or a storage shelf. It follows what moves where, not who carries it or when.
Memory hookThe three words Data Flow Diagram spell it out: data, flow, diagram.