| On the "running" side of things, lately I've been looking for solutions to fact that distributed teams can't gather in front of an actual whiteboard for discussion / design. I've been surprised by how hard it is to find cheap, effective alternatives. Cost is a particular concern when each person works from his/her own location. (1) At the high end, you have dedicated large-screen devices with dedicated software, like Google Jamboard. Gorgeous, awesome, very expensive. $5k+ USD. (2) Next step down in terms of price and glitz: the combination of a real whiteboard + a projector + special hardware for monitoring pens and/or hands. About $1k USD if you have to buy the whiteboard, and already have the computer. (3) Next step down in terms of size, but about the same price: tether a touch-/pen- sensitive display to your computer. E.g., iPad Pro, or Wacom Cintiq or a cheap knockoff. ~$400-$1200 USD, depending on device and size.
Pros: Portable.
Cons: Much smaller area to draw. (4) Status quo: Each person sits at his/her desk, using a mouse or (if they don't mind smudges and/or gorilla arms) a touch-sensitive laptop screen.
Pros: Ubiquitous.
Cons: Not fluid way to draw / annotate for most people. * Note: The breakdown above focuses on HW. I'm assuming that the SW side is at least somewhat solved by online, shared docs such as Google Draw, Realtimeboard, etc. * Note 2: A lot of the online collaboration sites are a hard sell in corporate environments if sensitive information is to be shared. |