Fishbone Diagram Maker

A fishbone diagram (also called Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagram) maps the potential causes of a problem. The problem sits at the "head" and causes branch out like fish bones along a spine.

Manpower (people), Methods (processes), Machines (equipment), Materials (inputs), Measurement (data/metrics), and Mother Nature (environment). Not all 6 apply to every problem — use only relevant categories.

During root cause analysis, quality improvement meetings, incident post-mortems, and problem-solving sessions. It works best with a team brainstorming causes together.

Use our fishbone diagram maker — define the problem, add cause categories and sub-causes, customize, and export as PNG. Free, no signup.

A flowchart shows a process with sequential steps. A fishbone diagram shows causes of a single problem, organized by category. They solve different problems — use /tools/flowchart-maker for processes.

3-6 main categories, each with 2-5 sub-causes. Focus on the most likely root causes rather than listing everything possible.