Notation as a Collaborative Tool

Shared notation allows people to form the same mental model in their mind, which facilitates collaboration.

Rodrigo Tellor shared a story about architecture school. One of the first things you learn in architecture school is how to draw and how to read and write Architectural Blueprints. Master architects can immediately grasp and visualize a real building in a real environment based purely on the blueprint. They can point at a window and say something to another architect like "the light coming through that window will be pretty weak - we need to add another window or skylight to make that room brighter."

This immediate shared understanding of a space based on this notation is extremely helpful.

Software engineers don't have shared blueprints.