Getting started with IcePanel

Getting started in IcePanel is simple. Here is a quick example to follow so you can have robust system documentation that will help you educate, learn, make decisions and plan future developments (which also look pretty cool).

1. Create a landscape (if you haven't already)
2. Add the top-level objects for your design, such as: the system(s) your company develops (start with 1), third-party systems you depend on, and people who use your solution, such as customers
3. Add connections between the different objects, highlighting their high-level relationships.

Adding and editing objects in diagrams automatically adds them to your model to be re-used later.

What this is for: This is the context level (Level 1) of the C4 model, and the focus here is the big-picture view of your system architecture. This will mainly show how your system(s) solve your customer's problems, remaining primarily at the business level, so keep it simple!

Target audience: Everyone! Anyone in or out of your company who needs a high-level overview of how your system(s) work. Perfect for your business, product, or other non-technical peers, as well as onboarding new technical teammates.

Make sure to: Name your objects in a way anyone can understand. Label all connections so the relationships are clear.

1. Zoom into a System (using the + icon on the top left of the system).
2. Add the Apps and Stores that are inside the primary system.
3. Connect them to show messages or relationships between them.

What this is for: This is the App level (Level 2, known as Container diagram in C4). It shows the individually deployed/runnable units in each System that execute or store code.

Target audience: Mainly technical people, such as architects and developers. Some product people (such as product owners, product managers, or business analysts) will gain value here, especially for planning purposes.

Make sure to: Name your objects in a way anyone can understand. Label all connections so the relationships are clear.

Because we're using a model, we can add objects from higher levels here, such as other systems you depend on or the people interacting with your solution.

1. Add your Actors and Systems from the level above by either: double-clicking in the diagram and typing their name, or going to the "Model objects" tool on the left and drag them in.
2. Add the connections to the apps/stores inside the system from previously created connections.

You can create multiple diagrams to show different views of your model. Examples include customer-specific views, focusing on one object, and current vs. future design. Connections that were created at a higher level will show as higher connections.

Once you have your Apps and Stores laid out and connected, start adding any tech choices, such as what service in AWS, GCP or Azure service, languages, libraries or frameworks, etc.

1. Select your model object. You can multi-select objects by holding the Shift key.
2. Go to the technology section on the right-hand panel.
3. Search for your tech choice and add it.

These choices come with docs preassigned and a simple description for those unfamiliar. These can be used later to highlight tech choices using the tags bar, allowing people to learn your architecture's technical choice landscape and filter your model.

Each object and diagram has a description, which adds details to help your teammates understand how things work. Descriptions follow that object wherever it is.

The minimum you should add is a brief displayed description for each object. This might seem obvious, but it will help your teammates (especially new ones).

1. Select an object.
2. Go to the right-hand panel.
3. Add a displayed description to each object (max 120 characters).

Try to explain: what the object is, and what its primary responsibilities are.

Use the detailed description field to show other useful information, such as a link to the appropriate repository. The detailed description field supports Markdown.

IcePanel is a collaborative tool for your whole team. Getting others involved helps you gain knowledge from across your business. Invite them as viewers (unlimited and free on all IcePanel plans) or create interactive read-only share links of your designs. Share links are a great way to showcase your designs without them needing an account using just a browser.

Invite your teammates:

1. Click the Share button in the top right of the screen.
2. Type the emails of the people you want to invite to your team.
3. Send invitations.

Create share links:

1. Click the Share button in the top right of the screen.
2. Navigate to the Share link tab.
3. Toggle on share links.
4. Copy and paste the link to anyone you want to show your designs.

Wherever you are when you create a share link will be where your audience lands when opening the URL. This includes position, selected object, Flow, Tags etc.