How to draw a database schema (ER diagram) in FigJam

Most schemas die in a text file because nobody can see the structure. A visual ER diagram fixes that in one meeting. Here's the five-step version.

1. Entities first, columns later

One box per thing your app cares about: users, orders, products. Skip columns entirely at this stage. If you can't name an entity in one word, it's probably two entities - or a relationship.

2. Add only columns that answer questions

Every column should trace back to a real question the app asks:

• users → who logged in last? → id, email, created_at
• orders → what did they buy? → id, user_id, total, status

Columns that answer no question get deleted the moment requirements shift.

3. Mark keys and types

Two things separate a schema from a pile of boxes:

1. Primary keys - mark one id column per table.
2. Types - color-code them. When every numeric column is blue and every date is orange, a mistyped column stands out visually instead of lurking until migration time.

4. Connect with crow's foot notation

A plain line between two boxes says nothing. Crow's foot symbols put the rule on the line:

Symbol	Meaning
Three prongs (fork)	many (zero or more)
One dash	exactly one
Circle + dash	zero or one

users ||--o{ orders reads: one user has zero-or-more orders - which is exactly the foreign key rule orders.user_id → users.id.

5. Many-to-many needs a junction table

If both ends of a line are "many" - students take many courses, courses have many students - you can't express it with a foreign key. Put a junction table in the middle:

students ──< enrollments >── courses

This pattern is everywhere: order line items, post tags, role assignments.

Sketch first, build second

Schema design is a conversation, and that happens on a canvas - multiplayer cursors, sticky notes, alternatives side by side. That's why FigSchema exists: typed tables you edit in place, and connections anchored to the specific columns they reference, so the diagram stays truthful while it's being argued over.

Grab the FigSchema plugin from Figma Community and drop a starter template on a blank board to see all five rules in one picture.