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Figure type · Reviewed October 28, 2026

Experimental design diagram maker

Describe the groups, the timeline and what is measured when. The agent plans the figure, shows the plan and the credit cost, draws the design or workflow, and lets you fix one step at a time.

What an experimental design diagram is

An experimental design diagram shows how a study was run: the groups or arms, how subjects were assigned, the treatments and their timing, the sampling and measurement points, and the endpoints. A workflow or pipeline figure is the same idea for a method: samples in, steps in order, data out. Both explain the design; results belong in the data figures.

Scientific figure generator

Describe your experimental design diagram

Send this design or describe your own study. The result opens on a canvas where you mark any step and say what to change.

3 free figures for new accounts, no card. Downloads have no watermark.

Professional flat illustration of a single-cell RNA sequencing workflow from sample preparation to clustering and annotation
Made with this generator from a text description.

What it draws

  • Study designs: groups, randomisation, treatments, timeline and endpoints.
  • Method workflows and pipelines: sample to result, step by step.
  • Clinical trial and cohort schemas, including enrolment and follow-up points.
  • Sampling schemes for field and environmental studies.

What it does not draw: data

  • No charts, plots, axes, error bars or significance marks: a drawn chart implies values you did not measure.
  • No micrographs, blots, gels, scans or any image that would pass for an observation.
  • No outcomes. An n per group, a dose or a time point is part of the design and may appear exactly as you write it; a result is not.

How to describe an experimental design diagram

The agent turns these five parts into a plan and shows it, with the credit cost, before anything is generated. The more exact the names and the arrow meanings, the closer the first draft.

  1. 01

    Subjects and groups

    What was studied and how it was split: species or population, number of groups, n per group, how subjects were assigned.

  2. 02

    Treatments and timing

    What each group received, the dose, the route and when, on a timeline with the units you use in the paper.

  3. 03

    Measurements

    What was sampled or measured at which points: blood, tissue, imaging, questionnaires, sequencing.

  4. 04

    Endpoints and analysis

    The primary endpoint and the analysis steps, so the figure ends where the results begin.

  5. 05

    Layout

    Ask for groups as parallel rows over a shared timeline, or a left-to-right pipeline with numbered steps, and name the icons you want.

Experimental design diagram templates

Made with Scientific Figure Generator. Open one, keep its layout and swap in your own parts and labels.

Single-cell RNA sequencing workflow from tissue dissociation and droplet capture to clustering and marker analysis

Single-Cell Genomics

Single-Cell RNA-Seq Workflow

Open as template
Western blot workflow from protein extraction through electrophoresis, transfer, antibody detection, and quantification

Protein Analysis

Western Blot Workflow

Open as template
Sandwich ELISA workflow showing capture antibody, sample antigen, detection antibody, substrate, and standard curve

Immunoassays

ELISA Workflow

Open as template
BRCA1 and BRCA2 testing workflow with variant interpretation, counselling, PARP eligibility, and cascade testing

Clinical Genetics

BRCA1/2 Testing Workflow

Open as template
Seven-step RNA sequencing workflow from biological sample and library preparation to interpretation

Genomics

RNA-Seq Analysis Pipeline

Open as template
Liquid chromatography workflow from sample preparation and instrument analysis to peak integration and quantification

Analytical Chemistry

LC Sample-to-Quantification Workflow

Open as template
Browse all 60 templates

What reviewers expect in an experimental design diagram

Time runs left to right

A shared timeline with day or week marks, groups as parallel rows beneath it, so a reader can see what every group received at every point.

n at every split

Give the number of subjects per group where the groups divide, and again where any are lost to follow-up; CONSORT-style figures expect it.

One icon per sample type

Use the same icon for blood, tissue or imaging every time it appears, and define the icons in the legend.

Design ends before results

The last step is the analysis or the endpoint, not a bar chart. Results go in the data figures with their statistics.

Before submitting, check the publication checklist, write the legend with the figure legend guide, and disclose the tool as the citing guide describes for your publisher.

Experimental design diagram FAQ

Mechanism diagram maker

Draw a mechanism diagram from a description: molecular mechanisms, mechanism of action, device and process schematics. Explanatory figures only, never data.

Signaling pathway diagram maker

Draw a signaling pathway diagram from a description: receptor to nucleus, activation and inhibition, phosphorylation, compartments. Schematics only, not data.

How to write a figure legend

The six parts, five examples and eight publishers’ legend rules.

Citing AI-generated figures

Disclosure wording and the rules of ten publishers, with sources.

Describe it once. Correct it region by region.

3 free figures for new verified accounts, the plan and cost shown first, and no charge for failed results.

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