As architects and developers, we all know one painful truth: A good design is incomplete without a good diagram.
Yet for years, I personally struggled with UML diagram tools.
Some were expensive. Some were overly complicated. Some looked simple but became frustrating when real-world system design was involved.
And ironicallyโฆ even after paying for tools, building clean, accurate UML diagrams still felt harder than it should be.
That frustration is where this story begins.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐ (๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ)
Like many architects and senior engineers, I reached a point where:
- I wanted to quickly visualize architecture
- I wanted something simple yet flexible
- I didnโt want to depend on expensive licensed tools
- I needed something that actually works the way engineers think
But every tool I tried either:
- Locked features behind paywalls
- Made simple diagrams unnecessarily complex
- Or demanded learning yet another heavy UI framework
So I decided to build my own solution โ not as a product, but as a personal utility. Just enough to solve my own problem.
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ
At one point during mentoring one of my students, Het Olakiya, I shared this early tool and idea with him.
What started as:
โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐งโฆโ
Soon became:
โ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ?โ
Het Olakiya took ownership of the idea, improved usability, and transformed it into a real working product.
Not just code changes โ but: Experience-driven design, Cleaner workflows, Simpler interactions, Practical features developers actually need
And todayโฆ
It is a working UML Diagram Creator built with real-world engineers in mind.
The Result: A Tool That Helps, Not Hurts
The product is now live and free to use:
๐ http://uml.trulloy.com
It is designed to help:
- Students learning system design
- Software Engineers, Technical Leads and Solution Architects
- Anyone tired of using heavy or paid UML tools
Engineers should not struggle with diagrams. Diagrams should help engineers think.
Why This Makes Me Proud Not just because a tool was builtโฆ
But because:
- A student became a product owner
- Mentorship became real-world impact
- Learning turned into creation
- An idea became a community solution
If youโre waiting for โthe perfect platformโโฆ Build it.
If you canโt find โthe right softwareโโฆ Create it.
If youโre frustrated with toolsโฆFix the problem for others too.
Thatโs how developers grow.
Thatโs how architects are built.
๐ณ๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
โ๏ธ Authored by: Amit Kumar Giri
Solution Architect | Mentor | Backend Architect | Builder