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Funny. Whiteboarding, for me has always been the fastest way to discuss complex ideas. I've never been able to replicate this speed with remote people (and I've

Funny. Whiteboarding, for me has always been the fastest way to discuss complex ideas. I've never been able to replicate this speed with remote people (and I've tried several tools).

ghaff 2y ago
We used an open source collaborative text tool earlier, the name of which eludes me, but during COVID, I think we generally realized that shared Google Workspace docs actually worked pretty well for a lot of things we used to use big whiteboards for. For certain things, aspects of being able to have a hallway conversation easily were absent. But really we adapted pretty well IMO.
ziofill 2y ago
Same. I’m 100% remote in a very technical field, and the thing I miss the most is to work out a problem with my colleagues at a whiteboard.
- politelemon 2y ago
  I have tried every tool that gets recommended to me as a substitute for in person whiteboarding, and nothing comes close to the tactility of IRL ones. I've always found the online versions become a one person show rather than actually collaborative and handing pens back and forth.
  - quectophoton 2y ago
    Question. When you say you've tried them, do you mean with an actual graphics tablet + pen? I have not seen any company that actually provides such work-related tooling. Companies thinking this is unnecessary because you can just use the mouse and it's "good enough", is like companies thinking keyboards are unnecessary for writing software because you can just use the mouse + an on-screen keyboard and it's "good enough". Whenever I have to use a physical whiteboard for brainstorming, I loathe not having access to the flexibility of Krita (when just showing my screen) or Excalidraw. Ctrl+Z; moving stuff around; rotating; re-scaling; being able to hide the full layer and work on a new one (or move to a different part of the infinite canvas), instead of permanently deleting the whiteboard (and, in some cases, awkwardly taking a photo of it before deleting it and then awkwardly sharing that in Slack)... I do like physical whiteboards though; having one on my fridge has been a nice low-friction way for my family to share reminders without the hassle of having shared calendar software ("waiting for package on Friday" or "cat vet on October" kind of thing, stuff that gets mentioned during conversations but it's still nice to remember in the short-term future). And I'm a sucker for physical notebooks too, don't get me wrong (I love MUJI loose-leaf notebooks). But using physical whiteboard for work brainstorming? To me they feel like not having access to the proper tools.
    - ghaff 2y ago
      Just me and I'll probably take it down when I do a forced kitchen remodel, but I have a physical whiteboard in the kitchen as well. Less useful now that I do less travel. Probably some sort of project notebook works at least as well for one person.
    - ziofill 2y ago
      My company provided an iPad + pencil, and my group has another one in the office. It’s better than nothing, but it’s nowhere near as effective as doing the Raj and Sheldon “stare at the board” act. It’s true that on a physical board you can copy/paste/undo as easily as with an iPad, but unless the purpose is to create a tidy set of handwritten notes, you don’t actually need that functionality.
bongodongobob 2y ago
You can do that remotely. This is such an odd point.

Funny. Whiteboarding, for me has always been the fastest way to discuss complex ideas. I've never been able to replicate this speed with remote people (and I've tried several tools).

ghaff 2y ago

We used an open source collaborative text tool earlier, the name of which eludes me, but during COVID, I think we generally realized that shared Google Workspace docs actually worked pretty well for a lot of things we used to use big whiteboards for. For certain things, aspects of being able to have a hallway conversation easily were absent. But really we adapted pretty well IMO.

ziofill 2y ago

Same. I’m 100% remote in a very technical field, and the thing I miss the most is to work out a problem with my colleagues at a whiteboard.

politelemon 2y ago
I have tried every tool that gets recommended to me as a substitute for in person whiteboarding, and nothing comes close to the tactility of IRL ones. I've always found the online versions become a one person show rather than actually collaborative and handing pens back and forth.
- quectophoton 2y ago
  Question. When you say you've tried them, do you mean with an actual graphics tablet + pen? I have not seen any company that actually provides such work-related tooling. Companies thinking this is unnecessary because you can just use the mouse and it's "good enough", is like companies thinking keyboards are unnecessary for writing software because you can just use the mouse + an on-screen keyboard and it's "good enough". Whenever I have to use a physical whiteboard for brainstorming, I loathe not having access to the flexibility of Krita (when just showing my screen) or Excalidraw. Ctrl+Z; moving stuff around; rotating; re-scaling; being able to hide the full layer and work on a new one (or move to a different part of the infinite canvas), instead of permanently deleting the whiteboard (and, in some cases, awkwardly taking a photo of it before deleting it and then awkwardly sharing that in Slack)... I do like physical whiteboards though; having one on my fridge has been a nice low-friction way for my family to share reminders without the hassle of having shared calendar software ("waiting for package on Friday" or "cat vet on October" kind of thing, stuff that gets mentioned during conversations but it's still nice to remember in the short-term future). And I'm a sucker for physical notebooks too, don't get me wrong (I love MUJI loose-leaf notebooks). But using physical whiteboard for work brainstorming? To me they feel like not having access to the proper tools.
  - ghaff 2y ago
    Just me and I'll probably take it down when I do a forced kitchen remodel, but I have a physical whiteboard in the kitchen as well. Less useful now that I do less travel. Probably some sort of project notebook works at least as well for one person.
  - ziofill 2y ago
    My company provided an iPad + pencil, and my group has another one in the office. It’s better than nothing, but it’s nowhere near as effective as doing the Raj and Sheldon “stare at the board” act. It’s true that on a physical board you can copy/paste/undo as easily as with an iPad, but unless the purpose is to create a tidy set of handwritten notes, you don’t actually need that functionality.

bongodongobob 2y ago

You can do that remotely. This is such an odd point.