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It's also trivial example with 3 boxes. A more complex diagram with curved lines will start to look very inconsistent without a graphics designer cleaning things up.

I thought the same exact thing. I feel like if anything, it obscures the implied relationship between B and C

I’d’ve gone the other way — the rounding makes clear that there is no direct link between b & c, where the orthogonal lines are suggestive of one.

The orthogonal straight line diagrams create a phantom b-c connection whenever you connect a-b and a-c.

Rounded diagrams can still have that b-c connection if it’s intended.

Same here - the rounded flowchart was much harder to read, with the rounded one my eyes got lost where the line split in half.

The square rectangle pairing was also easier than the rounded one to match (there were fewer details to compare).

+1 The straight line diagram is easier to read for me as well. While I sometimes enjoy curved lines for diagrams, I think the ones the author chose were too curvy for my taste.

-1 from me then? I actually had a silent wow moment for that demonstration.