Even in the digital age, creative brainstorming sessions usually include someone scrawling notes or drawing pictures on a whiteboard in front of the group. That presents a challenge in the age of virtual meetings, but we have a few digital workarounds.
For Two Rivers Marketing’s Jasmine Liu, “sketch sessions” are a mandatory first step in her world of user experience (UX) design.
“Spending some time on a sketch session at the beginning of a project can help you design smarter and better,” Liu explained. “There is less ambiguity about what goes where, and many questions can be addressed during one of these sessions. The exercise also encourages collaboration; it's a great time to get to know your peers while creating better designs.”
Normally, these sketch sessions involve holding a group brainstorming session on the layout of a web page or app interface that involves quick, rough sketching, whether on whiteboard or paper.
Liu and some colleagues recently faced the challenge of sketching out some web pages while everyone was working from home and couldn’t physically meet.
With no physical sketching possible, Liu found alternative brainstorming apps. She used:
Associate Creative Director Toni Sarcone was part of Lui’s virtual session. “The UX designer, the digital developer, and the creative designer really have to be on the same page,” said Sarcone.
“Since we’re all visual people, it’s hard to say ‘put something on the left and put something on the right’ without showing that. This is like the new cocktail napkin for work at home. A lot of things can get lost in translation if we’re not seeing it."
To take collaboration a step further with a free app that any meeting participant can draw on, try Zoom Whiteboard. A Two Rivers Marketing team recently used the whiteboard function with a client to let everyone draw or write on the board. It’s easy to activate in Zoom. When the meeting is over, the whiteboard in Zoom can be saved and shared with participants.
These and other applications and workarounds can help your brainstorming sessions remain multimedia, visual exercises even when you’re all miles apart. Interested in learning more about enhancing your creative video calls? Contact us.
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