What a fishbone (ishikawa) is
A fishbone, or Ishikawa diagram, groups candidate causes of a problem into categories — commonly Machine, Method, Material, Manpower, Measurement and Environment. The categories exist to stop a team fixating on the first cause someone shouts out.
When to use one
- Running a root cause workshop after a defect or incident
- A team keeps proposing solutions before agreeing on the cause
- You need a structured input to a Pareto or FMEA
The data format
Optional 'Problem, effect text'. Then Category, cause — repeat per cause.
Paste rows like this — copy the example straight into the builder to see it render:
Problem, High defect rate Machine, Worn tooling Method, No SOP Material, Supplier variation Manpower, Low training Measurement, Miscalibrated gauge Environment, Humidity
How to make one
- Paste your data into the Studio, or upload a CSV or XLSX file.
- Set your colours — by hand, from pasted brand hex codes, or extracted from your logo.
- Generate and export as PNG or SVG for your deck or report.
One thing people get wrong. A fishbone generates hypotheses, it does not confirm them. Take the branches away and check them against data before changing anything.
Why it runs in your browser
Charts are parsed and drawn entirely on your own device. No rows, files or logos are uploaded, so a fishbone (ishikawa) built from confidential project or process data never touches a server. You can verify it: open your browser's network tab while you generate one.