Visual collaboration has become a trending buzzword, but there isn't a clear definition for it. Some believe it represents a cloud-based environment that enables office, hybrid, and remote workers to collaborate effectively. Others think of visual collaboration as merely digital whiteboards.
As the term gains popularity, numerous visual collaboration tools have emerged. Given the lack of consensus on what visual collaboration truly means, these tools often come with different features. One thing is certain—they act like reliable assistants, ensuring employees can collaborate in real-time to solve complex problems.
Here, we introduce 10 highly-rated visual collaboration tools suitable for any industry that elevate teamwork and communication to a new level.
10 Visual Team Collaboration Tools
Boardmix
Looking for a versatile visual collaboration platform that helps teams tackle projects of all types and sizes? Boardmix could be your perfect assistant!
This acclaimed online whiteboard brings team members together, providing them with a collaborative space in the form of an infinite virtual whiteboard. You can use a plethora of tools to express your ideas and creativity, including emojis, sticky notes, images, shapes, connectors, and digital pens.
Boardmix offers unique features like anonymous voting and real-time feedback to help you make crucial decisions regarding processes and projects. The built-in timer helps you stay on schedule, ensuring all tasks are completed by their deadlines.
Maintaining a fun atmosphere is crucial for boosting motivation and teamwork within any industry. Boardmix understands this and provides icebreaker games designed to make people feel comfortable with each other, even when they're not physically close.
Best Features of Boardmix
- Infinite whiteboard
- Ideal for creating charts and diagrams
- Over 2000 templates
- Excellent customization options
- Games and activities designed to bring people closer together
- AIGC-enabled creation, supporting the generation of images, mind maps, flowcharts, code, and various visual templates
ClickUp
When it comes to visual collaboration, ClickUp is unmatched. True to its name, it serves as a massive virtual whiteboard, acting as a playground for your team.
You can brainstorm, manage and discuss projects, execute plans, and develop mind maps with it. Using the ClickUp whiteboard ensures every team member is on the same page—whether they are part of a remote or hybrid team.
This online whiteboard tool can significantly contribute to your goals, whether you're developing a new app, launching a product, or crafting a killer marketing plan.
ClickUp's whiteboard offers unparalleled customization and versatility. Add media files, documents, links, notes, and comments to your whiteboard. You can also create shapes, charts, and graphics, editing colors, fonts, and styles to build a unique environment that makes your team feel comfortable.
Depending on your needs, you can either build a new whiteboard from scratch or use one of many editable whiteboard templates, serving as a framework for developing your collaborative experience.
Best Features of ClickUp
- ClickUp's online whiteboard makes visual collaboration easy
- Supports real-time and asynchronous collaboration
- Allows for team customization to maintain true collaboration without sticking to one team's preferences
- Provides pre-built templates for various use cases to help teams work together
- Offers robust project and task management options
- Integrates with over 1000 applications
- Suitable for cross-functional teams, whether remote or in-house
Conceptboard
Looking for an easy-to-use, clean, and secure platform focused on visual collaboration? Conceptboard might be just what you need.
The development of Conceptboard was straightforward—allowing users to create powerful, collaborative boards filled with various features.
Everyone working on the board has a real-time cursor with their name, supporting real-time collaboration. You gain the benefits of an infinite canvas, meaning the platform won’t limit your creativity and freedom.
With various drawing tools, you can quickly convey your ideas. Conceptboard allows you to use sticky notes, leave comments, and create text boxes with annotations. All boards are automatically saved, so you don’t have to worry about losing information or interruptions in communication.
The platform allows you to share your boards with internal and external collaborators. Just send a password-protected link to recipients, and they can join.
Best Features of Conceptboard
- Real-time cursors with user names indicate who is doing what
- Over 100 ready-made templates
- Easily share boards for collaboration via password-protected links
- Suitable for all industries, internal or remote teams, and any company size
- Board history and auto-save features
Canva
Canva is renowned for its incredible design options—you can create posters, images, videos, infographics, and presentations. But Canva's capabilities go far beyond that! The platform also offers excellent visual collaboration features.
Canva streamlines workflows through collaborative whiteboards. Imagine Canva's whiteboard as your team's gathering place—it's the birthplace of new ideas and the perfect venue for constructive discussions.
On the whiteboard, you can do just about anything, from assigning tasks and obtaining approvals to setting permissions and viewing team activity insights.
Since Canva is a design application, its whiteboard focuses on simplifying the creative process. That's why the platform offers features like designing and scheduling social media posts and sharing designs directly from the whiteboard. You can elevate your design game with over 600,000 customizable templates!
Best Features of Canva
- Excellent design and marketing team tools
- Easy task assignment for in-house or remote teams
- Drag-and-drop editor
- Simple permission settings and whiteboard sharing
- Over 600,000 templates
Mural
Mural allows you and your team to draw on a digital whiteboard, focusing on two aspects:
Easy collaboration and communication, guidance to enhance collaboration skills
All operations occur in a flexible and dynamic visual environment. It provides an infinitely resizable canvas and straightforward permission controls, allowing you to adjust based on your goals, whether brainstorming, mind mapping, discussing projects, or other uses.
Add your ideas to Mural using sticky notes and/or text boxes, express your thoughts by adding media files, and share your Mural through hyperlinks.
Mural also offers features like setting timers, inviting participants to view specific parts of the whiteboard, and locking objects (to prevent them from being moved). These options make meetings and ensuring everyone contributes fairly much easier.
Best Features of Mural
- Various canvas options
- Permission controls with multiple settings
- Set timers to stay on schedule
- Private mode
- Convenient Mural sharing, suitable for remote or in-house teams
Creately
In terms of visual collaboration, Creately's standout feature is its infinite visual canvas. Here, you can visualize your ideas and collaborate with colleagues to turn them into actionable tasks.
Creately makes collaboration simpler and more efficient with its ultra-fast preview synchronization—whenever someone makes changes to the canvas, your canvas updates instantly. The millisecond delay makes it feel like you're watching other users' screens!
You can also conduct video meetings directly within Creately—no need to leave your canvas and use a different app to communicate with other contributors.
You can leave comments on the canvas, start discussion threads, assign and monitor tasks, highlight collaborators, take notes, and create charts, graphs, and maps as you input.
Every collaborator on the canvas has a real-time text cursor and mouse pointer, so you can always see who is doing what. Moving objects in Creately's visual canvas is straightforward, thanks to its drag-and-drop design.
Best Features of Creately
- Fast preview synchronization
- Excellent diagramming options
- Built-in video conferencing
- Fully customizable interface
- Drag-and-drop design
Lucidspark
Lucidspark and its signature intuitive virtual whiteboard can bring any team together. Everyone on the whiteboard has a real-time cursor with their name, simplifying the tracking of everyone's activities and preventing confusion.
One of Lucidspark's most exciting features is Breakout Boards. With this, you can break work into sections, work in small groups, and then sync them back to the main canvas once completed.
Lucidspark provides timers to help ensure every activity runs on schedule. When you want to grab everyone's attention, you can use the “Bring others to me” option—it gathers all participants to the same spot on the whiteboard.
Unsure how to decide between multiple ideas? Use the voting option to make decisions with just a few clicks.
Best Features of Lucidspark
- Breakout boards
- Built-in timers
- Focus everyone's attention on the same area of the whiteboard
- Group ideas together
- Integrates with communication and project management applications
Stormboard
Stormboard is a digital workspace platform designed for businesses and enterprises. It helps you maintain excellent collaboration with team members, whether they are a few feet away or thousands of miles apart.
Stormboard's digital workspace (whiteboard) is referred to as “Storms.”
Each “Storm” provides you and your colleagues with dozens of useful tools to simplify communication, express ideas, and decide on next steps. In addition to text, you can add sticky notes, images, videos, and files in your “Storms.” You can also group similar ideas and concepts and highlight important thoughts.
Stormboard has powerful export capabilities. With just a few clicks, you can convert your “Storm” into Google Docs and send it to investors, management, and other stakeholders in Google Workspace.
Stormboard's latest feature, StormAI, is a game changer. This AI-powered collaborator can help you generate ideas, provide new perspectives, and enhance overall team productivity and efficiency!
Best Features of Stormboard
- Excellent export capabilities
- AI-powered collaborator
- Templates for over 250 use cases
- Group ideas and concepts with just a few clicks
- Supports large teams and complex projects
Google Jamboard
Google Jamboard allows you to collaborate more efficiently using a fully customizable space (called “jams”).
One of the main advantages of Google Jamboard is that it is part of the Google ecosystem. You can search Google and add images and/or web pages to your “jams,” discuss and present your “jams” using Google Meet, attach Google Docs, Slides, or Sheets to them, and display Google Calendar events.
Unlike other platforms we've discussed, Google Jamboard has its own device, conveniently called the Jamboard device. This is a 55-inch digital whiteboard that integrates with all G Suite services. It comes with a pen that you can use for writing and drawing. You can use your finger to move items and resize images and text. 🫰
Google Jamboard offers unique features like handwriting and image recognition. It can convert your handwriting into text and your sketches into polished images.
No Jamboard device? Don’t worry—the platform is available on computers and mobile devices. Regardless of the device used, you can enjoy excellent customization.
Best Features of Google Jamboard
- Part of the Google ecosystem
- Available on different platforms, including the special Jamboard device
- Handwriting and image recognition
- Great for educators and in-house teams
- User-friendly interface
Freehand by InVision
Freehand, launched by InVision, boasts powerful features and ease of use that enhance your collaboration and productivity while helping visualize workflows.
The platform allows you and your colleagues to express ideas and collaborate using a smart, infinite multi-user canvas.
This canvas is customizable and flexible, enabling you to adjust according to your goals, whether planning, brainstorming, or ideating. Create to-do lists, add sticky notes, leave comments, add polls, and use flip cards to make collaboration as smooth as possible.
The platform offers incredible task management options. Create task cards and use the drag-and-drop feature to assign people to them. With Freehand’s smart objects, easy-to-use connectors, and various task layouts, you can outline each task, view it from different angles, and ensure it gets done on time.
Fostering team spirit is essential for any well-functioning team. Freehand by InVision recognizes this and allows you to add different challenges, games, and team-building exercises to the canvas.
Best Features of Freehand by InVision
- Suitable for various industries and company sizes
- Offers leaderboard options
- Robust task management capabilities
- Encourages team spirit
Conclusion
Visual collaboration platforms unify team members and keep them goal-oriented, regardless of their location. These tools and their powerful features empower employees to become artists, helping them express ideas effortlessly while ensuring maximum transparency and teamwork. If you’ve made it this far, go ahead and try out the visual team collaboration software mentioned in this article!
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