Overview
Your text model described what matters. Now translate the same game state into a rough visual model.
This is a planning sketch, not polished UML. The goal is to make objects, selected information, and meaningful relationships visible before you later create a formal UML object diagram.
You may create the sketch by hand and photograph it, or draw it digitally using the tool of your choice. The medium is your choice; the quality of the model is what matters.
From Text to Sketch
| In your text model | In your sketch |
|---|---|
| A specific thing | A box |
| Information about that thing | Short labels and values inside the box |
| A meaningful connection | A line or arrow between boxes |
| Something intentionally omitted | Usually does not appear |
Worked Example — Library Checkout
This uses the unrelated library example from the Text Model Lab. It shows the translation process, not an answer for Parcheesi.
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1. Translate the text model into candidate objects.
Begin with your completed Parcheesi Text Model Lab. Do not restart the problem from scratch.
Step 1 — Make a translation list
Before drawing, make three short planning lists:
- Boxes I think I need
- Information that belongs inside each box
- Connections I need to show
Check Your Work
You should be able to point to the part of your text model that justifies every candidate box.
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2. Block out the objects.
Draw the main objects first. Keep the sketch simple enough that you can still rearrange it.
Step 1 — Draw one box per selected object
Guardrails
- A specific person, item, place, or other thing the model needs usually becomes a box.
- A characteristic of a thing usually belongs inside that thing's box rather than becoming a separate box.
- Do not create a box just because something exists in the physical game. Include it because the model needs it.
- This is a planning sketch. Perfect UML notation is not required here.
Check Your Work
A reader should be able to tell where one object ends and another begins and which objects are separate instances.
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3. Add selected information to the appropriate objects.
Now move the important characteristics or values from the text model into the boxes they describe.
Step 1 — Add short labels and values
Guardrail — Ask where the information belongs
If a detail describes one object, place it with that object. If the detail describes a connection between two objects, save it for the relationship step instead.
Check Your Work
Each value should have an obvious owner. If a value seems to float between boxes, decide whether it belongs to one object or actually describes a relationship.
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4. Represent meaningful relationships.
Objects become more useful when the model shows how they are connected.
Step 1 — Add only meaningful connections
Relationship test
For each connection, ask: What does this line mean? If you cannot explain the connection in words, decide whether the line belongs in the model.
Check Your Work
The important connections from the text model should now be visible in the sketch, and each line should communicate an actual relationship.
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5. Compare the sketch with the text model and refine it.
The final step is a consistency check. The sketch should be a visual translation of the same model—not a new model invented while drawing.
Step 1 — Compare the two versions
Step 2 — Look for unexplained additions
Ask these questions:
- Did something appear in the sketch that was never justified in the text model?
- Is something important from the text model missing?
- Is any characteristic attached to the wrong object?
- Does every line represent a relationship I can explain?
- Can another person follow the sketch without knowing what I was thinking?
Ready to Move On?
You are ready for the formal UML object-diagram work when the sketch clearly shows the objects, selected values or characteristics, and relationships that need to be translated into UML notation.
Checkpoint Completion State
You have produced a rough visual model of the same Parcheesi game state represented in the text model, with distinct object blocks, selected characteristics or values, and meaningful relationships that are clear enough to support later translation into formal UML.
6. Submit the Sketch Image.
Prepare one clear image of your completed sketch. You may photograph a hand-drawn sketch or export/capture a digitally drawn sketch created with the tool of your choice.
- Make sure all object labels, selected values, and relationship lines are readable.
- Crop the image so the sketch is the main focus.
- Submit one image file to Canvas.