The 1 digital whiteboard tool that helps remote teams collaborate better

If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been working at home for nearly a year (maybe more) and have mastered the basics on the transition: You’ve scheduled regular Zoom happy hours with colleagues and friends, you’ve created standing team syncs and designated Slack rooms for the occasional questions that arise, and, of course, you’ve been diligently keeping strict office hours so as not to burnout. The only thing you’re waiting on to add to your routine are those new comfy pairs of sweatpants you ordered.

But now that you’ve dealt with the personal transformation, you’re realizing you have a new obstacle: Figuring out how you and your team can remain creative and productive. While you’ve probably all gathered into a conference room to brainstorm, collect ideas, and share feedback in the past, now that you’re dispersed, you’re finding it hard to sustain that mind-meld into this new environment and keep up with everything else.

As a completely distributed company since day one, we here at InVision know that frustrations around creativity and communication in a remote setting is a common obstacle to productivity. We also know that in order to move past that block, you need a simple yet steadfast tool: That’s why we created Freehand to help our own team collaborate in real-time (even when we’re apart). Think of it as your free collaborative digital whiteboard—one that never runs out of space or markers—to co-draw, wireframe, plan, present, and give feedback using simple tools “draw,” “write,” and “comment.” From general communication to specific design techniques, we’ve put together a collection of our favorite ways to use it.

Design exercises

Whether with your team or a client, a good creative ideation session can pay back dividends. And when paired with the right people, video conferencing tool, and vision brief, using Freehand can help create an inclusive environment when doing exercises like “How might we?” “Affinity mapping,” and “Crazy Eights.” Bonus: Instead of having to take photos or save worksheets from an in-person sprint, all your good ideas are automatically digitally saved.

Journey mapping and ideation

Figuring out your company’s journey—as it relates to your user—is vitally important to understand as it connects customer and business needs. The most common way to do this is hosting mapping sessions, aligning teams on the customer journey. This can easily be done using Freehand, and once it’s time to walk others through what you landed on, you can switch to Presenter mode.

Wireframing

Just like the blueprint of a building, a wireframe describes details clearly and specifically while giving the builders (you, other designers, developers, etc.) an overview of the project. They’re a common language that are complex enough to inform all collaborators but simple enough to not be bogged down by too much detail or design language. While you may be used to creating wireframe using Sharpie and paper, using Freehand saves you the tedious steps of scanning and uploading your hand-drawn wireframes since they’re already saved online and are sharable.

Presentations

From data analysis to user research, Freehand allows you the freedom to present your findings however you’d like. To enter presentation mode, simply press the “play” icon and all viewers’ screens will be synched to yours.

Design reviews

The insights and perspectives from feedback is essential to design, but it’s often easier said than done. Rather than collaborative working sessions, reviews can often turn into defensive pitch sessions or offensive commenting. By holding your design reviews via Freehand, you can add structure that maintains productivity—as well as provide an archival document that can be referred back to as the project progresses.

Technical interviews

You can assess a candidate’s capabilities before you bring them on-site with whiteboard-style questions in Freehand in real time. You can both jump into one Freehand at the same time or collaborate asynchronously.

Virtual sketching

Need to take your mind off and doodle a bit? Don’t waste your notebook pages—use Freehand to sketch and draw as much as you want.

Mind mapping and diagrams

When working remotely, communication needs to be thoughtful and deliberate. Whether you create orderly flowcharts and flywheels to share with the team, or just use it to illustrate your talking points, Freehand can help you show rather than tell.

Etc. 

Outside of work whiteboards, we’ve seen people use Freehand to collaborate in incredibly creative ways. Each time an InVisioner has a birthday, we usually put together a birthday card in Freehand for teammates to send notes or doodle. The team at Automattic, another completely distributed company, hosted their 2018 holiday party on the platform.

Ill tell ya. @automattic is a remote company. But that does not impede our ability to have a kickass remote holiday party. Thanks to @johnmaeda @alisonrand @alexislloyd & the entire @automatticdsgn crew. @InVisionApp for the technology! (See video) pic.twitter.com/5lMXirMswL

— Jeff Golenski (@jeffgolenski) December 21, 2018

And since many schools have gone remote, too, we’ve been holding a stand-up for the children of InVisioners every morning, using Freehand to guide an activity. The staff at Publicis Sapient, too, hosted a happy hour for 38+ of their children using Freehand as a doodle space.

Our @PublicisSapient Experience virtual kid happy hour broke @InVisionApp Freehand with 38+ kids after 25 mins 🎨 Super fun way to get your team's families involved while WFH, give it a try! https://t.co/eoS2ZYNoj5 pic.twitter.com/YI9yvaidZ5

— Wendy Johansson (@uxwendy) March 20, 2020

We’re so thrilled to see people using Freehand to connect and collaborate in such an isolating time. Have your own Freehand innovation you’d like to share? We’d love to see it. Tweet us @InVisionApp.