Online collaboration tools are improving every day. There are the obvious ones, plus a few less common ones.
By no means comprehensive, this list was originally gathered for my Design Thinking workshops, although the tools themselves work for any type of online collaboration, brainstorming or exercises like mood boards.
Arguably the two best online tools:
Tools for the Discover phase of finding and gathering information:
SurveyMonkey – surveys
TypeForm – surveys
Zoom (the US site) and similar video conference tools
Tools for the Define phase for organising information, extracting insights and sorting into categories or groups:
Jamboard – a Google whiteboard tool, but sadly going away by 1 Oct 2024. On their website, they suggest turning to their partners, such as FigJam for Teams, Lucidspark (see below), and Miro (see above)
MakeMyPersona – good persona builder
Smaply – superb for creating customer journeys
Tools for the Develop phase work best for ideation and brainstorming:
IdeaFlip – online sticky notes
Lucidchart – good for customer journeys
SessionLab – good tool to design workshops
Stormboard – good digital online whiteboard
Tools for the Deliver phase are excellent for prototyping:
Boords – storyboarding software for videos
HotJar – visual tool to collate feedback for prototyping
InVision – online whiteboard, excellent for prototyping
Marvel – prototyping tool loved by many
Sketch – good overall tool, but with excellent prototyping offerings
If you have other online tools you like, please add them below. Or, if you have any questions or thoughts using online tools, add them to the comments below.
2 Comments
This post is a goldmine! As remote work continues to evolve, having the right collaboration tools is crucial. Your thorough breakdown makes it easy to find the perfect fit. Thanks for sharing this valuable resource!
Good to see you online again! This is such a helpful list, thank you Andy.