Miro is a great tool for teaching graphic design
July 23, 2024

Miro is a great tool for teaching graphic design

Charmaine Martinez | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Miro

I started using Miro as a teaching tool in my graphic design classes during the pandemic. I needed a way for students to see each others' work and to receive and to give feedback on that work. I have continued to use Miro for this purpose, which is basically a virtual crit room. I have also used Miro to conduct brainstorm sessions.

Pros

  • Miro is a great way to see visual work from several designers in one space.
  • Miro provides an easy way to comment on work in progress, via stickie notes, reactions, and comments.
  • Miro archives the flow of a project: from initial concepts, through design development, and the final deliverables.
  • Miro can facilitate brainstorm sessions through various easy to use templates.

Cons

  • There are some problems with uploading multiple page PDFs to Miro (especially PDFs of books set up with facing pages). If a document begins with a single pages and is followed by spreads, all the spreads will preview as stretched.
  • Working with tables can be difficult, especially importing data from spreadsheets.
  • It can be tedious to lock items on a complex board in order to prevent users from moving things around.
  • As I am not using Miro in a business context, I can't speak to business objectives. However, Miro has helped my to be a more inclusive and productive teacher.
Miro enabled me to facilitate design reviews and discussions with students based in the U.S., Mexico, and Asia during Covid-19 shut-downs in California. During the pandemic, I don't think I could have taught my classes effectively without Miro. Because Miro helps streamline assessment and facilitates collaboration, I continue to use it in all my classes.
I first use the whiteboard program Conceptboard for teaching design classes. The program was recommended to me by a German colleague during my first quarter of online instruction. After piloting Conceptboard in three classes (freshman, sophomore, and senior level), I decided to research other whiteboard projects. The results of this research led me to Miro. Conceptboard had some limitations in the types of files that could be uploaded and it was not as user-friendly as Miro in terms of both the user interface and how students interact with the program. When Miro offered a full version of the software to educators for free, that sealed the deal.

Do you think Miro delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Miro's feature set?

Yes

Did Miro live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Miro go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Miro again?

Yes

Although Miro is not specifically designed for use in academic settings, I think it is an extremely useful tool in art and design courses. Miro has functionality that online course management systems such as Moodle and Canvas lack. There are times where in person critiques are more efficient than comments on a Miro board, however, I view Miro as a great way to engage students who may be less comfortable with face-to-face interactions.

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