Fine, but doesn't inspire collaboration
August 26, 2019
Fine, but doesn't inspire collaboration
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Dropbox
Dropbox is used across our organization alongside Google Drive. We use Dropbox primarily as a final repository for documents that will be posted to our website. We rarely use it for documents that are still in design or will be edited. We also use it for our organization-wide documents, such as the organization handbook, templates, protocol documents, etc. Dropbox is useful for this latter purpose in that it allows users to lock the folder so things cannot be added or deleted.
- Good file management--easy to build folders and save files (user-friendly).
- Ability to lock folders from editing.
- Ability to share files with multiple staff (and with external partners) via the link.
- Ability to leave notes for people when sharing.
- I find it very difficult to share individual folders or subfolders that are within shared folders. For instance, if I want to share just one file, it doesn't allow me to share it with someone who doesn't have access to the shared folder. I don't want to grant access each time to the entire folder, just to the file.
- I don't love the layout--it's functional, but not inspiring, and it hasn't been updated in so long. It seems as if it's been the same since Dropbox started. I enjoy when products surprise me with functionalities I hadn't even thought of.
- I don't find the suggestions on the home page helpful. I prefer the layout of Google Drive, where home takes you to things you accessed recently, but also to the entirety of your drive. I don't find the suggestions or the messages on the home page very helpful.
- The ability to store and share files across the organization--rather than emailing them out and having people ask again if they fail to save them--has saved the organization significant time.
- Ability to save files long-term in shared folders means that we are able to continue to access documents and files even when there is staff turnover and the original owner of the files no longer controls them.
- Having staff all have access to their own Dropbox systems, along with the org-wide ones, allows everyone to feel comfortable making use of the platform.
I personally prefer Google Drive, perhaps because I use it more frequently and am thus more comfortable with the functionality. Dropbox was chosen by our organization as the repository for our organization files. Each staff member was given their own Dropbox using their company email, to ensure they could access the organization guidance docs, handbook, forms, etc. which are all stored on Dropbox, but I find that for day-to-day work, most people use Google Drive until the point at which the files are final.