Understanding Fishbone Diagram: Examples and Explanations for Problem-Solving using the Ishikawa Diagram

In the ever-changing world of problem-solving and process improvement, the one tool that is simple and effective for analysis is the Fishbone Diagram. The fishbone diagram is also known as the Ishikawa diagram or Cause and Effect diagram. It is a simple tool in design with a powerful application. Originally, this diagram was developed by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a pioneer in quality management. This diagram is widely used for its ability to break down even the most complicated issues.

The cause and effect diagram is a go-to method for organizations seeking to identify the root causes of issues and drive meaningful changes. This diagram has a unique skeletal structure that illustrates problems, dissects them, and provides a pathway to solution. Imagine tracing the source of a drop in sales or analyzing the failure of a critical project milestone. The Fishbone diagram helps to simplify and organize them into small and understandable parts. This helps teams focus on actionable core issues rather than wasting their valuable time finding surface-level symptoms.

In this blog, we will be discussing the Fishbone diagram along with real-world examples and their explanation to improve your problem-solving skills. Whether you’re a quality manager, a marketer, or a project lead, understanding how to use this tool will simplify and enhance your problem-solving approach. 

What is a Fishbone Diagram?

The Fishbone diagram is also known as the Ishikawa diagram or the Cause and Effect diagram. The Fishbone diagram is a visual representation that helps teams to systematically analyze potential factors causing a problem. It has a shape like the skeleton of a fish. It categorizes the causes into major branches according to the theme. This structured approach promotes collaboration and helps in thorough root cause investigation.  

Here is how Fishbone analysis works:

1. Main Problem: The “head” of the fish skeleton represents the main problem that you are trying to solve.  
2. Major Categories: The “backbone” of the fish skeleton is divided into major categories that impact the problem. Common categories of fishbone analysis include:
   • People: This includes human factors like skills, training, and motivation.
   • Processes: This consists of workflows, procedures, and systems.  
   • Equipment: This includes tools, machinery, and technology.  
   • Materials: This shows raw materials, supplies, and components. 
   • Environment: This consists of external factors like weather, regulations, and competition.  
3. Root Causes: The “bones” branch out from the major categories to represent specific potential causes within each category of the problem.   

Below is a Fishbone analysis example – 

The Fishbone diagram templates resemble a fish skeleton. The problem is displayed at the front of the fish’s mouth, the major categories are shown on the backbone, and the possible causes are listed in the smaller bones. This Fishbone example shows the sales decline analysis of a product and its potential root causes.  

What are the uses of the Ishikawa Diagram?

1. Root Cause Analysis: The Ishikawa diagram helps identify the root cause of the problem rather than just addressing its symptoms.
2. Problem-solving: It helps break down complex problems into small, manageable parts, which makes it easier to find solutions.
3. Quality Improvement: It is used in quality control processes to identify defects and helps maintain and improve product or service standards.
4. Decision-Making Support: The Cause and Effect diagram provides a clear visual representation of causes and helps prioritize them based on their impact. This helps in better and more informed decision making.  
5. Team Collaboration and Brainstorming: It encourages discussions and cross-functional teamwork by visually mapping out ideas and causes.
6. Strategic Planning and Analysis: It helps to assess factors affecting the goals and guides the development of strategies to achieve the objectives.

How to use the Fishbone Diagram Template?

Here are the steps to use the Fishbone Analysis- 

1. Identify the Problem: The first step in a cause and effect analysis is problem identification. It includes – describing the nature of the problem, the magnitude of the problem, the person involved, when and where it occurs, etc. On the Fishbone diagram, this will appear on the head of the fish. 
2. Work on the Main Causes of the Problem: This stage involves identifying the root causes of the problem. Highlight as many potential causes as possible that can be a part of the problem. As shown in the below diagram, these causes will follow the head of the fish.
3. Identify the Sub-Causes Through the Main Causes: Every major problem involves sub causes that contribute to the occurrence of the primary cause. This step involves identifying the possible additional causes related to the major problems identified in step 2.
4. Analyze the Diagram: By this step, a diagram would be ready containing all the possible causes of the problem that you could think of. This diagram now needs to be reviewed as a whole. These problems need to be analyzed in detail. Depending on the problems’ priority and urgency, you can dive further into each problem to investigate them critically.
5. Derive an Action Plan: After knowing the problem and its causes in detail, the final task is to derive an action plan. Outline the best approach to address the problem and come up with the most viable solution for it.

The below Fishbone diagram template highlight the sub causes in a clean format –  

Fishbone Analysis Examples

1. Fishbone Diagram Example – Marketing

This Fishbone diagram template focuses on the root causes of low website traffic and its contributing factors.

Main Problem: The head of the fish represents the main issue: Low Website Traffic.

Categories: The backbone of the fish is divided into six major categories that contribute to the problem:

1. Content: This cause shows issues related to the content of the website, such as poor quality content, lack of keyword optimization, no fresh or updated content, and content that is irrelevant to the target audience.
2. Technical Issues: This category focuses on technical aspects that can hinder website traffic, which includes sub-causes like slow loading speed of images and videos, broken links that lead to 404 errors, and the mobile unfriendly website interface.  
3. Backlinking: This root cause deals with the quality and quantity of backlinks pointing to the website. The sub-causes shown in the cause and effect diagram are a lack of backlinking strategies and insufficient and poor quality backlinks from other websites.
4. SEO: This category focuses on search engine optimization practices that contribute to the problem. These include practices like missing title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, poor keyword research, and low page authority.
5. Promoting: This Fishbone analysis category highlights marketing and promotion causes like lack of content sharing on social media, limited outreach, and lack of effective paid advertising campaigns.
6. User Experience: This root cause category shows that the website has a confusing structure, a poor user interface, and a lack of clear calls to action.

2. Fishbone Diagram Example – Human Resources

Here is a Fishbone analysis example for human resources. The purpose of fishbone diagram here is to provide a clear and concise overview of the factors contributing to employee turnover.

Main Problem: The head of the fish represents the main issue: Employee Turnover.

Categories: The backbone of the fish is divided into five major categories that show the potential causes of the problem:

1. Job Satisfaction: This category displays factors related to employee satisfaction with their roles and sub-causes like monotonous work, excessive workload, and unrealistic expectations.
2. Career Development: This category focuses on the lack of opportunities for growth and development, limited training, and lack of skill development opportunities.
3. Compensation & Benefits: This root cause category deals with low financial rewards and employee benefits compared to industry standards.
4. Recruitment: The Ishikawa diagram category highlights the ineffective hiring and onboarding process and the lack of support for new hires.
5. Work Environment: This shows a poor work environment and a lack of teamwork, recognition, and resources.

3. Fishbone Diagram Example – Software Development Bugs

This Fishbone diagram template helps to analyze the root causes of software development bugs, showcasing the contributing issues.

Main Problem: The head of the fish represents the main issue: Software Bugs.

Categories: The backbone of this Fishbone diagram is categorized into six main causes that contribute to the problem:

1. Requirements: This Ishikawa diagram category analyzes issues like incomplete or missing requirements, vague requirements, and also frequent requirement changes after the development process has started.
2. Design: This Fishbone analysis category highlights the design phase and its impact on bug occurrence because of inadequate design reviews, lack of clear design principles and guidelines, and poorly designed system architecture.
3. Coding: This category deals with inconsistent coding practices, lack of development skills, and not enough reviews to identify and correct errors.
4. Testing: This category focuses on the testing process issues and its ineffectiveness due to inadequate testing methods, lack of testing automation, etc.
5. Tools: This category analyzes the impact of outdated tools and technologies used in the development process, lack of effective debugging tools, and poorly managed version control systems.
6. Management: This Ishikawa diagram category shows the causes related to project management practices, such as insufficient resources for testing and development, ineffective planning, scheduling, and tracking, and unrealistic deadlines.

The above Fishbone diagram examples show how you can identify the root causes and effects of any problem and its versatility across various industries. You can use professional Fishbone diagram template designs to make your presentation impactful and impressive. If you want your presentation customized and designed by experts, drop your file on our professional presentation services and add your requirements in the comment section. We will provide you with a tailor-made presentation in just one day.