Item: Freehand by InVision
Rating: 8
Author: Sydney Davis

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We frequently use Freehand to do collaborative whiteboarding sessions with 2-3 people, generally other designers or content creators. I also use it to organize information architecture because it's easier than other tools available. We use it at the beginning of many projects, but generally, stop using it once the discovery phase is over.

Pros and Cons

Easy shortcuts
Easy learning curve for new users
Infinite canvas is nice

I wish that you could snap elements to a grid -- it's really hard to get things lined up correctly.
It would be nice to have more color options for the sticky notes

Most Important Features

collaboration
infinite canvas

Return on Investment

I don't know -- it would be basically impossible to quantify this relationship

Alternatives Considered

We use lots of other tools, but freehand has the easiest learning curve and the simplest UI, which I really appreciate. It makes it the most similar to a true whiteboarding session.

Key Insights

Do you think Freehand by InVision delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Freehand by InVision's feature set?

Yes

Did Freehand by InVision live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Freehand by InVision go as expected?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Freehand by InVision again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Sketch, Figma, Lucidchart

Likelihood to Recommend

I think that for quick whiteboarding sessions with other designers, it works great. It would not serve your needs when presenting work to clients, since it's hard to understand the infinite canvas and it's hard to tell the client where to look on the canvas. It does work well for voting exercises. I also think it's fairly easy to put together super simple wireframes (low fidelity) as part of a product discovery/design exercise.

Usability

It's simple and straightforward.

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar	None

Easy Tasks

easy shortcut keys

Difficult Tasks

there is no grid or snap feature so it's hard to line things up

Great for simple whiteboarding

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with InVision Freehand