A vectorial representation of the full sequence of events occurring during the 2D-NMR heteronuclear single-quantum correlation (HSQC) experiment is presented. The proposed vectorial representation conveys an understanding of the magnetization evolution during the HSQC pulse sequence for those who have little or no quantum mechanical background. This vectorial depiction is compared to results from the product operator formalism, and thus uncovers several parallelisms and subtle differences between both models. This approach permits a nice introduction to product operators at a level comprehensible to advanced upper-division undergraduate and graduate students without the use of the spin-density matrix.