Miro: A welcome step to begin to facilitate the creative process digitally

We are using it as a tool to facilitate the various types of communication that the architectural process requires that are very hard to convey when not working in person. This includes a visual representation of ideas and processes (sketches, drawings, other media expressions), real-time markup of current work (facilitating real-time discussions and collaborative problem solving), diagrammatic representation of text and images, formation of conceptual ideas, and planning (brainstorming/conception process), scheduling/planning of teamwork, organization of current, past, and future work. It addresses a portion of the main downside to working remotely: working closely with other team members in real-time to communicate, solve problems, and drive ideas. Graphical representation of the architectural discourse is paramount in not only refining but also communicating ideas to others effectively--this platform allows for that process to be preserved in some way.

We had the opportunity to work on a small design project from students in Germany (we are located in Canada). Miro, along with Zoom and Discord were the mediums at our disposal to facilitate communication. Miro provided a multivalent system that we used to schedule team meetings (communicating with the substantial time difference), self-driven/hard deadlines, archive of project work, display of current work, and a system allowing us to work alongside and see what other teams were working on. This allowed our teams to integrate and work with a set of international teammates for the first time, and for the projects to progress in an effective manner.