Customer Story:
Johannes Kuah in Singapore

 

Hi, I’m Johannes Kuah from Singapore. I’ve worked in the IT industry for 20 years and have served in various roles from a software engineer, a solution architect to a team manager, worked on the enterprise systems of record (ERP, CRM) and systems of engagement (content subscription & commerce).

My current role requires me to develop and execute the architecture as well as lead the solution delivery team.

I use Astah Professional mainly to:

Visualize – I need to visualize abstract concepts, see linkages and flows, drill-down to the different levels of abstraction

Communicate & document – I need to communicate analysis, design, architecture, and plans to both the delivery team as well as senior management.

Johannes Kuah
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“Astah is considerably lightweight and fast compared to other similar tools.”

 

Prior to using Astah, I would draw diagrams using Visio or the more rudimentary PowerPoint. Otherwise, pen and paper would be used for low-fidelity diagrams.
Also, I’ve tried visual paradigm and EA before but I felt then that they were too heavyweight, unwieldy, and at times, too restrictive in the UML constraints.

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So I end up going back to Astah for its ease of use and the ability to save the original content with the various UML entities. Often I don’t just draw diagrams and throw away.
I would usually have to update & refine them or even add incremental details.

To sum up, I chose Astah because as opposed to using other tools, it allows me to:

  • Keep all related diagrams and artifacts in a single file
  • Retain the levels of abstraction for the different diagrams (using folder structure) and allowing me drill-down as necessary
  • Maintain traceability amongst the various entities, concepts
  • The inclusion of MindMaps is a welcoming bonus!
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“The inclusion of MindMaps is a welcoming bonus!”

I use the following diagrams extensively: Mindmap, Structural diagrams (class diagram, deployment diagram) and Behavioral diagrams (activity diagram, sequence diagram).

MindMaps in Astah is a real welcoming bonus!
I can capture context, ideas, and concepts using a mindmap to ensure my analysis is thorough. When I capture roles and domain concepts, I’ll later convert these into actors and classes respectively with the built-in shortcut (right-click on the elements)!

Mind Map of Application Integration
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3 Reasons why I like using Astah:

 

  1. I like using Astah because it’s “considerably lightweight and fast” compared to other similar tools. I don’t even need to execute the installer if I don’t wish to!
  2. What I particularly like about Astah is that I’m able to use it to “educate and sell to senior management” using diagrams with minimal (daunting) UML constructs.
    Diagrams like high-level application architecture, infrastructure architecture diagrams, and MindMaps come to mind.
  3. With Astah, I do “not need to switch tools” for creating different types of diagrams.

In the future, having an Android version of Astah, at least a viewer would be great!