Process Mapper

Process Mapper is a Power BI custom visual that renders cross-functional (swimlane) flowcharts directly from structured step data. No drawing tool, no diagram drift: maintain the process as a table, and the diagram stays in sync.

What it does

• Rows become flowcharts. Bind Step ID, Description, Function, Shape Type, and Next Step ID. The visual lays out lanes by role, orders steps by dependency, and routes connectors automatically, including decision branches (with Yes/No labels) and rework loops.
• The full symbol set. Terminators, processes, decisions, predefined processes, documents, databases, data storage, input/output, manual steps, merges, displays, and connectors: the standard flowchart vocabulary, mapped from plain Shape Type text.
• Duration and system callouts. Bind the optional Duration and System wells and each step carries a slim callout under its shape: how long the step takes on the left, the system it runs in on the right. The map answers “how long” and “in what tool” at a glance, which is usually the first question a process review asks.
• Your layout, your colors. Choose vertical swimlane columns or horizontal lanes flowing left to right. When the auto-layout isn’t quite right, switch on Adjust layout: drag steps into place, drop one into a different lane to reassign its swimlane, and drag a connector’s straight run to reroute an arrow, snap its endpoints to any side of a shape, and drag lane bands to reorder swimlanes; everything saves with the report. Set base fills per shape, bind a color column for data-driven step colors, or build conditional rules point-and-click in the Style editor: pick a column, an operator, and a value, then set fill, border, text, or even the shape. Every swimlane and every shape type gets its own color swatch there too.
• A real Power BI citizen. Every step is a data point: click to cross-filter, hover for tooltips carrying any extra columns you bind, drillthrough from the context menu. Filter to a process with a slicer or drillthrough page and get one clean diagram per process.

Why it exists

Process documentation dies in Visio files nobody updates. When the map is generated from the same table that drives your process register, updating the process is updating the diagram. Pairing it with Template Repeater gives you full process manuals (profile page plus flowchart) generated live from one workbook.

No external calls and no data leaving your report. Built for government tenancy policies from the first commit.

Try the beta

1. Download the .pbiviz file above.
2. In Power BI Desktop, open the Visualizations pane, click the three dots, and choose Import a visual from a file.
3. Load the sample CSV and bind the columns to their wells: Step ID, Step Description, Function, Shape Type, Next Step ID, and Connector Label, plus Duration and System for the callouts, and Process ID to the Process well. The first process draws immediately; the sample holds two, and the navigator bar pages between them. Decision branches, the rework loop, and callouts all render out of the box.

Beta builds are imported per report and don’t update themselves; check back for newer versions until the AppSource listing is live. Feedback goes to product support.