Best way to brainstorm!
February 22, 2022
Best way to brainstorm!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Miro
As students, we use Miro in almost all of our courses to collect research and design ideas together in one board and later discuss, especially during pandemic times, when meeting together and sketching is impossible. Since my studies always include designing, it has become very helpful for mapping, taking notes, graphs, and creating ideas for collages. The board has always been advised by our professors, and most of the time they use it themselves to represent group assignments, or workshops (especially international). It's truly amazing to somehow be able to replace the live meeting with a virtual board of ideas (not on paper), which remains there anytime and is accessible by everyone from the team.
Pros
- A great substitute for designing boards when everything has to be done online and especially when team members are settled all around the world.
- Very convenient for brainstorming, or dividing tasks. Adding comments and taking notes is always helpful, and if the work is organized (aesthetically) it is also useful for presentations.
- It is very easy to learn and has a lot of space for being grateful. There are similar board websites and applications, but I think Miro has more options and is also easier, especially when you install the app. It can also be accessible by phone.
Cons
- I think it would be helpful to add more formats. For example, I would like to add .psd files, at least just uploading them as files (maybe not be able to open on the board of course).
- Simplify the sharing options. Sometimes it is difficult to make others able to download from the boards, I am personally not so sure if I understand completely how it works.
- Miro is super helpful for the discussion phase with designers. Maybe there could be a special toolbar for that, like for example the crop option of an image may be not only rectangular but also other shapes (like selecting an area from photoshop). Some other features could be borrowed from adobe software, such as image adjustments in colors. Since it's a real-scale board, it would be super nice if there was also a dimension option, to understand sizes of sticky notes, photographs, lines, etc.
- It is very efficient for pandemic times. Before designers, students, and teachers would gather around a table and with some papers and other tools would create a board of ideas. This has become more and more difficult, and Miro works great with that. For including internationals, it's also very very helpful. And to sum up, it remains on the web and can be equally accessible for all the team members, while a whiteboard of course cannot.
- Sometimes though, it gets too messy and works slower if it's overloaded. It becomes then necessary to create a new board just for final conclusions, frames of presentation, etc.
- The tools for presenting are quite nice. If you work on large posters and then you have to zoom in and out, frames get the job done. When viewed as a slideshow you have the chance to get closer to the most important topics and visualizations.
Yes, as mentioned before it has become crucial for universities during the pandemic and all this online era, as a substitute for large boards or various papers. This way is accessible in real-time and at any time. Even though it does not replace truly the feeling of on-site teamwork, it is going forward with technology therefore it is a powerful tool. It's also helpful for breaking language barriers through sketching, designing, using icons.
Do you think Miro delivers good value for the price?
Not sure
Are you happy with Miro's feature set?
Yes
Did Miro live up to sales and marketing promises?
I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process
Did implementation of Miro go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Miro again?
Yes
These two apps have similar attributes but I have found Miro more accessible, less rigid, and easier to use. It has been more of a question of what the university or other companies uses more often and what the others also are familiar with, plus what they offer as their software.
Using Miro
- Brain storming
- First draft of presenting
- Taking notes and comments
- Team work and workshops in online platform
- Helpful because some team members don't live in the same countries
- Accessible and easy to learn for basic presentations and workshops
- When everything is organized in a presentful way, saves so much time rather than creating slide shows on other software on different computers divided by team members.
- Presentation of projects, designs, graphics.
- Working with internationals on online meetings.
- Workshops where the results of the discussions and brainstormings could be easily and fastly published, opened and re-edited anytime.
Evaluating Miro and Competitors
Not Sure
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
It is most importantly a question of what is used more inside the same institution (university) or company. It has been strongly suggested from the teachers and researchers, most sutdents are already familiar with it (or at least similar software and platforms which are more used for individual work) so therefore it becomes more accessible, and since it offers the basic tools needed, all the users are aware on what to expect as a final result.
I don't think I would at the moment. I have tried a similar product for another institute but I found it more rigid and a little more "rectangular" or more organized somehow, but I like the free space and flexibility that Miro offers, no borders therefore you can work freely.
Miro Implementation
Not sure - I am sorry but I don't understand the question.
- When the board becomes too overloaded, it's slower and more difficult to navigate.
100 - Almost all students of most design courses use it for team (or individual) works, reaserching together and preparing presentations, and most reasearchers, professors and practicioners use it for organizing assignments, workshops, or presentations and distribution of teams during classes.
It doesn't require much skills, but it depends on the field of study. Basic tools are provided, and they are represented in icons, therefore it's very understandable. Features such as coppy and paste, drag and drop are just the same with any other software, you basically only need the computer, internet access and the will to work in teams and online.
Miro Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
None | None |
I have never asked for support because I did not have any issues yet. Therefore, I cannot give any reviews on the matter. As a student for whom the university provides access to Miro, my only contact has been the verification that I am a student in order to use the platform, and that happened very quickly therefore I don't have any remarks on the matter.
My only contact, as mentioned before, has been in creating an account to access Miro and therefore having to submit a document that proved that I am a student of the university and therefore can access the boards using their educational teams. This process took a very short amount of time, and not I am able to use all the features. Therefore, I am satisfied with this kind of action, but I did not have further bugs or issues when I needed to contact the support.
Using Miro
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | Not well integrated |
- Basic mappings and graphs for presentation, with icons, shapes etc.
- Taking notes, comments, brainstorming
- Zoom ins and outs for presentation of large posters, slideshows (timed or not timed)
- Collection of articles, images, videos and texts
- Creating collages with images, pictures, text
- Not much, but sometimes it gets overloaded and not easy to navigate
- It is difficult to understand real dimensions, like for example understand how it would look like as a printed paper.
- Doesn't load large files, for example large maps or high quality images.
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