A couple thoughts came to me as I read the editorial:

1. In at least one case, when designing views, I think creating using tsql is so much easier than using that clunky table builder. My eyes spazz out when I accidentally hit the Design option on a view and see all that info stacked up on the screen. I quickly X it out and script as modify to a new query window, where I can easily read the definition of the view.

2. I've only been a DBA for 2 years, so not very experienced yet, but I have no experience using diagrams in a database. I've learned relations by exploring databases and troubleshooting issues, but I've never used diagrams. Maybe they would be easier to use, maybe not, but I haven't felt disadvantaged because the companies I've worked for don't use them.