How do I use Whiteboard?
Whiteboard is a visual collaboration plugin to bring distributed teams together. Here are some must-read tips to make sense of the new Coediting collaboration feature in Adobe XD.
Update XD to the latest version
Coediting is in beta and requires all users to use the same version of XD, so your team should all get the latest version. It just takes a few minutes – just update XD using the Creative Cloud application. Once you are all on the same version, Coediting works for collaborative whiteboard sessions. You can also take advantage of all the latest features in XD, with new features added all the time.
Save to as a cloud document
In case you don’t know, “cloud documents are cloud-native files that you can open and edit with compatible apps. With cloud documents, your work is always updated, across every device, wherever you are.” Sounds good, right? Well, to collaborate in XD, you will need to save your files to cloud documents (and not locally on your machine). This is required to use Coediting.
Use Coediting mode in XD
Coediting, available in beta, allows you and other designers to work together in XD in real time. You can work on the same whiteboarding or brainstorming activity by inviting other people on your team to the document. To invite another designer, click the Invite to Document icon in the top-right. See the image on the right.
Jump into Templates
The Whiteboard plugin was created to let designers and non-designers alike use XD as a whiteboarding and brainstorming tool with remote teams in mind. It has several categories, including brainstorming, drawing, flowcharts, and team management. We have put together a collection of useful brainstorming and whiteboarding templates based on popular design thinking frameworks and the types of activities our team sought to do remotely. Whiteboard’s templates are intended to save you time so you can jump right into a collaborative session with your team–and they can even give you good ideas for design thinking exercises you and your team could be doing!
Spice it up with Elements
If you are using a template and find yourself needing more visual tools, or if you are doing a collaboration from scratch, the plugin elements have quite a variety to choose from. Everything from drawing grids and frames to flowcharts, icons and, of course, the ever-present post-its are there for you to quickly pull from to help ideas take shape. Also, by selecting a given Element, you will notice that the plugin lets you change the color with color swatches. Elements were designed for sketching and resizing too.
Let’s use drawing
Who could imagine whiteboarding without freehand drawing? We were excited to build a drawing panel where you can do simple drawings, even with your mouse. To start drawing, first select the artboard you would like to draw on. Then, go to the Draw tab in the Plugin Panel and hit the “Start Drawing” button. A modal window will then open and allow you to choose thickness and color before drawing. The drawing window also has undo and erase to fix your work easily. When done drawing, just press the “Done” button and the drawing is added to the artboard. Try drawing wireframes, storyboards, annotations, and other creative artifacts.
Use conferencing for better communication
When collaborating remotely with the Whiteboard plugin, it is most effective to use video conference software (like Zoom, Bluejeans, Google Hangouts, or Adobe Connect) to be able to discuss while either one facilitator or multiple users work on the board. A steady flow of visual communication and conversation is the secret sauce for most awesome teams, so turn on that video and create something together!
