Collaborative Whiteboard Configurations

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2. How do you collaborate and whiteboard remotely?
3. Collaborative Whiteboard Configurations

Collaborative Whiteboard Configurations

• Doubled down usage for in-person and hybrid meetings as well
• Samsung 8" Active Pen Tablet with LiveBoard App
• Components
• Using This Setup
• Questions About This Setup

Doubled down usage for in-person and hybrid meetings as well

All-remote whiteboard setups also work well when leveraged for in-person and hybrid meetings because:

• They eliminate the organizational logistics for the meeting room to have a physical whiteboard and enables whiteboarding when the need was not foreseen.
• When in-person meetings have remote participants, the remote participants can be fully accomodated by the same screen share being used in the meeting room.

Samsung 8" Active Pen Tablet with LiveBoard App

This setup was devised by checking out many Tablet types (e.g. non-active pen ones), Apps and Websites.

The emphasis for selection was prioritized on:

• Fluidity of drawing experience.
• Speed of rendering in co-joined Zoom laptop.
• Avoiding requiring participants to each join the whiteboard site just to view (because a lot of sessions won't require collaborative contributions). However, also retain the option for other participants to join quickly to contribute when it is desireable - without cost and hopefully without a registration.
• Keeping cost low to make the solution more accessible to more people. (ended up at USD $265 at time of acquisition)

The first three criteria drove a lot of research into many applications + collaborative sites. Notably, options that did not support a native mobile application (used a webpage) lacked drawing fluidity.

Components

• The Drawing Surface: Samsung Galaxy Tab A 8.0 with Spen (SM-P200) $235.
  • This is actually a non-US model - so likely available in other markets.
  • Large enough, but reasonably portable.
  • Active pen technology is critical to fluidity.
  • Battery life is great.

• The Drawing Implement: Staedtler Digital Pencil $30 - the built in stylus is too small for drawing speed.

• The Collaborative Whiteboard App: LiveBoard.online Apps / Website, Free Forever attributes:
  • Apps for mobiles (for maximum fluidity for primary whiteboarding individual) that are almost as fluid as Bamboo Paper (the gold standard for responsiveness - but lacks collaboration).
  • Web UI that is reasonably responsive.
  • Web UI means others could join if desired (zero signup guests requires you, as the host, have $5/mon account).
  • Multipage whiteboard sessions.
  • PDF export (in free) - though sharing the chorus call shows this too.
  • Simple, but sufficient whiteboard tools.
  • Magic shape type tool that makes a proper shape object from your "attempt" to draw say "a circle".
  • It was challenging to find an App solution that was:
    1. Fluid response to drawing, quick update to the web UI
    2. Whiteboarding oriented
    3. Collaborative and
    4. Free

Using This Setup

1. Create two free accounts on https://liveboard.online.
2. On your mobile app, create a "session" and invite the second user.
3. On your zoom laptop, join as the second user. (it is important that the user owning the whiteboard session be logged in on the tablet so that the "new page" control resides there.)
4. Screenshare the whiteboard from the laptop web logon - since in most cases others won't contribute.
5. Be ready to share a link if others desire to contribute (req $5/mon to have guests which do not have to register to participate).

Questions About This Setup

This setup is the result of Darwin Sanoy thinking about the problem way too much ;)