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Comment by robbie-c | Hacker News Reader

I've tried a bunch of online whiteboard tools to design stuff (where stuff could be system architecture, UI, a business process, whatever), and nothing beats a whiteboard + post-its. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, it's possible, and I'd love to have some great counter-examples. Until then, I think that teams that can meet up in person will, on average, win over those who can't.

Other days I just have long list of individual tasks that I want to get through without being distracted. On those days I'd love to just work from home, have space to dramatically crash on my bed to think about things, go for walks, etc.

With these two things combined I think the hybrid approach is probably going to win out, either where employees can use their own judgement when to WFH, or maybe having a system around particular days of the week.

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I think it has to do with expressiveness. Mice + online whiteboarding tools are always a hassle, and are far far less expressive than just using your hands to draw shapes/words on a whiteboard. I don't really think online tools can replicate this process because of how hands-on it is. It's the same reason it's harder to draw on a WACOM vs. a piece of paper.

Being able to quickly draw some things that may or may not make sense, and then have someone else quickly draw on top of what you drew, and then sharing those ideas, is really hard to replicate online.

I don't think any of this is an argument against true WFH, I just think you'd have to change your process to accommodate the lack of interactive whiteboarding. RFPs + doc reviews + (for really big projects) in person quarterlies are definitely good enough, to me.

Bingo - well said:

"Being able to quickly draw some things that may or may not make sense, and then have someone else quickly draw on top of what you drew, and then sharing those ideas, is really hard to replicate online."

This is exactly what ShareTheBoard is aiming to deliver. The last piece of the puzzle are digital annotations - those will be added in July.

Please take a look and share some notes. I'm curious if our solution scratches the itch!

For me, a hybrid system combines the worst aspects of both worlds. I think employees should get clear commitments on WFH days so they can decide if they want to move out of the city.

For example, I wouldn't mind moving from my apartment in central London to a commuter town to have a garden and dedicated home office. But that would only be possible if days in the office are limited.

Try a touchscreen (preferably with marker-like stylus). :)

Of course, "come in for collab meetings once a week" is most certainly an option for teams who really need it.

11 x 17 inch paper is also pretty useful (the next size up from 8.5 x 11 paper).

Unlike a whiteboard, you can prepare 11 x 17 inch paper ahead of time and bring it to a meeting. Including carrying all those random post-it notes in some weird order that you made up.

For you Europeans out there... that'd be roughly A3 sized paper.

> For you Europeans out there... that'd be roughly A3 sized paper

Thank you.

robbie-c, checkout our solution to the remote whiteboard situation (And please share some feedback): https://sharetheboard.com

We too are not fans of "online whiteboards." Instead, we're looking for ways to bridge the great offline tools around us with the powerful online/digital tools we use everyday. Our work is "hybrid" already - it's weird that our tools have not been.

Anyway, please check it out and share some notes. Happy to answer any questions you may have too.

Two days at the office every two weeks is my new regimen, and it's the best of both world for me. I can afford to live pretty far of a big city, and a 3 hour train commute is just easy.

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