A method and system provides intelligent node-link diagram creation and editing, including an electronic display device having a surface on which a writing and/or drawing canvas is provided. An input device permits writing and/or drawing of electronic ink strokes, and a computing device is in operative association with the electronic display and the input device, and has stored therein for operation in connection with actions of the input device, a user interface (UI). The UI includes a graphical user interface (GUI) module, which controls input and display of the ink strokes applied to the canvas by the input device, and a recognition module which interprets the ink strokes by performance of structure recognition operations.