Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite vs. Mural vs. Microsoft Visio

I personally think that Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite is the best visual collaboration software out there. I’ve used Canva, Apple Freeform, and Microsoft whiteboarding software, and none of them really measure up. If you want simple, easy, collaborative, and intuitive, then Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite is the best solution. At the same time, if you’re tight on budget, it’s probably not going to be a solution you can afford.

Incentivized

I've recommended MURAL to a lot of people in a lot of fields. This is a great tool for any group of people that might stand around a white board if they were in person. Even if they are in person, I still recommend it pretty often because, unlike a white board, MURAL is virtual, so it can go offline with you. I've recommended it to other Software Teams, individual software developers, engineering teams, Sales Managers, Office Staff, Manufacturing teams, and more.

Visio is by far and away the best tool that I have used to do Value Stream Mapping sessions with the warehouse I support. It has all of the shapes needed built in to be able to represent all areas of the processes. I also like how you are able to make the drawing as big as needed and when printing it out of Visio you have the ability to use the necessary paper size. The biggest complaint that I have with the software if how it can be cumbersome for non-Visio users (that is, people without a license in the orgnaization) to interact with the Visio Map. We normally have to dedicate one Visio SME to be able to make the changes that Process SME's find since they do not have access to the software.

Incentivized

• Large number of predefined charts, diagrams, flows
• A great repository of various symbols and objects
• The easiness of using and manipulating objects and shapes. There is a lot of auto-editing and adjusting which the software does for you which saves a lot of your time.
• Easy way of duplicating shapes.
• While working with the app everything feels organic and natural. You don't get the clunky/limited feeling which happens with some other similar apps.

Incentivized

• enables easy for all collaboration especially in the hybrid environment
• makes brainstorming better as users can create digital sticky notes, draw diagrams, and add images to visually represent concepts and ideas
• it helps to visualize data effectively - users can create charts, graphs, and diagrams to present data-driven insights to team members and stakeholders

Incentivized

• Microsoft Visio is excellent for organizing thought processes related to our more complex research.
• The diagrams created with Microsoft Visio are ideal for graphically displaying the internal organization of work and research groups through flow diagrams.
• Microsoft Visio is a great tool for managing our students' activities by creating flowcharts that help us graphically visualize the steps of their group work.

• I have used the templates before and those are nice! I would like to see more
• The ONLY complaint I can come up with is that there has been several times that my screen will lock up and i have to fully refresh it, even when it is a fairly fresh load.

Incentivized

• It'd be nice that the zoom regulation could be easier to manage
• The advanced features are a little bit easy to adopt. Why not adding some agile trainings, or some other tools to facilitate their adoption
• A faster and easier way to Integrate with ms office

Incentivized

• When navigating through swim lanes, the user must be careful between switching from the point to the connection features as it can be difficult to remember which mode you’re in.
• When drawing “decision points,” it can be difficult to type words like “yes” or “no” between the connection lines.
• The exporting options aren’t ideal. They are hard to create in PDF format.

Incentivized

We use Microsoft Visio to keep our diagrams updated and to that end we will need the subscription to keep using the software. Otherwise we will be left with PDF versions of the diagrams.

Incentivized

The usability of Lucid Visual Collaboration Suite is bar none and incomparable to any other tool used in the past. There is such a vast offering that covers all the needs of any user in industries far and wide. It is no doubt that this is a firm recommendation for anyone and everyone to utilize this tool for all their needs.

Incentivized

Overall, MURAL is really easy to use, but there are a couple downsides. It's really easy to make areas of the board consistent because double clicking adds stickies that match those around the current one. It's really easy to connect the elements. And it's really easy to organize elements. Inconsistent controls, Panning, Line Connections, and latency are the only issues I had. My biggest issue is that the MURAL mouse buttons are very different from
most similar software. This always causes me problems switching to a
graphics software or 3D modelling software. Because MURAL uses the same button to pan and move elements, it's really easy to move things when panning around. The lines can also be a (sometimes huge) problem because thew will occasionally disappear or connect to things incorrectly. I think this is tied to latency issues which, in addition to causing phantom lines, can sometimes cause confusion to your team.

I have always struggled with some basics, such as connection points, object alignment, font consistency, arranging layers and their order (bring forward, send backward), and managing overlap. I usually need to create an initial rough draft and then do a separate cleanup pass to bring the diagram up to my quality standards. If I skip that step, the result generally does not look very good. And once a diagram becomes busy or the file gets large, Visio has been unstable for me in the past, including occasional crashes that caused non-recoverable edits.

Incentivized

I would rate the overall support for Lucidchart as a 9. The support provided is generally robust and responsive. Their help center, tutorials, and webinars offer extensive resources for users. The ticket-based support system is effective, providing timely resolutions to most issues. Moreover, they actively gather user feedback, demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement

Incentivized

Chat support tends to get back to you within a few hours and are always helpful.

Overall, I feel that Microsoft's support is weak. They are now such a behemoth that their model of putting documentation online for their users to sift through is totally outgrown. Given the amount of money you pay for these licenses, Microsoft should provide easy one-on-one support for their products via email or chat. The idea of paying their rates for support incidents is ridiculous. If you have an enormous amount of time on your hands, use their support websites and you will eventually find a solution most of the time.

Incentivized

Lucidchart is well beyond Microsoft Visio and is constantly improving. Visio is pretty much stagnant and hasn't been improved for several years, Lucid is constantly adding new functionality like AI powered functions and tools. We have no reason to pay for Visio licenses when Lucid can provide so much more for less.

Incentivized

Mural was easier to use and share compared with Whiteboard. Whiteboard's functionality is limited. It is also integrated into Teams in an odd way that makes it difficult for team members to refer to old whiteboards. Mural as a stand alone web app is better.

Incentivized

Even though it’s a more expensive solution, Vizio is built for the enterprise. Therefore, it integrates perfectly with our existing Microsoft stack, and quite frankly, because it’s such a more mature product, it provides exactly the functionality we need and expect.

Incentivized

• It sure has. It has saved me a lot of time. Think of all the time I could have wasted trying to learn a program that does the same thing, whereas Lucidchart just does it with ease, learn as you go, and be a boss at it.
• Lucidchart has increased productivity. My diagrams have helped co-workers find connectivity and helped them troubleshoot devices. This has saved time and increased productivity.

Incentivized

• Mural allows us to draft communications for clients that aim to increase the NPS of the organization
• Mural allows us to keep up with the agile framework, which reduces Time to Market of our products and initiatives
• Mural allows us to identify blockers in our day to day tasks, which reduces the Cicle Time of our Kanban cards

Incentivized

• Reduces the amount of time I need to create process flow diagrams. In the past I would use Powerpoint or Word which required a lot more effort and time and never looked as good. Visio just takes that headache away.
• Only negative is that I personally believe it should always have been part and parcel of the Office suite, thus giving more users the opportunity to use it rather than specifically having to justify its separate purchase within our organisation. Different now with Office 365 of course!

Incentivized