Does your design team fall behind on projects or struggle to collaborate on them? It might not be your fault; your team might not have access to the most effective productivity tools.
Whether your people work in-house or remotely, the following cloud collaboration tools will help everybody stay on track.
1. Box
Box gives designers an easy way to organize files through the use of folder hierarchies and tags. Tags are critical for design teams who have to deal with a large number of files.
Provided your people have a clear naming convention, it’s much easier to locate an image one of their colleagues created for Facebook by searching for the tag rather than having to sift through folders.
This program does more than just keep files organized, though. Box facilitates effective project management by making collaboration and sharing simple and secure. Using the Box Notes feature, your team can plan projects, create task lists, track projects, and collaborate more effectively.
It can take you a step further, however. Box integrates with productivity applications like Office 365 and Google Workspace so you can open, co-edit, and save your changes online through the use of Box.
Designers need sophisticated file storage management
Designers typically have unique needs in terms of file storage. For designers, a traditional folder system isn’t ideal.
File storage on your computer’s hard drive using a folder hierarchy can be frustrating. It doesn’t matter how perfect your naming convention is; you’re inevitably going to find yourself clicking through a multitude of folders just to get to your files.
Too often, multiple versions of the same file get stored in the same location, which makes it challenging to locate the right one quickly because it’s buried in multiple sub folders. For example, you might have fifteen different versions of the same image in addition to .PSD and .PDF copies.
On top of that, you might also have a compressed version of each image, plus thumbnails of each. If your team hasn’t moved file storage to the cloud, it’s time to do that.
2. Slack
Slack is the perfect communication and collaboration tool for remote design teams. This software makes it possible to create individual channels to discuss each facet of a project separately.
For example, you can create channels to discuss client requests, programming issues, front-end website design, graphics specifically created for print ads, and more. This feature makes it easier to reference information at a later time.
Without Slack, conversations may occur in bits and pieces across a disjointed array of emails. You might have to do a lot of clicking and searching to track past issues.
Say a client requested a major change to their homepage last month and you need to review the request. You may have to dig through a mountain of emails to find that information. Worse, if your email is encrypted, you won’t be able to search the server using keywords as a shortcut.
When you separate client requests and other kinds of conversations into individual channels on Slack, you won’t have to scroll as far to find what you need.
3. Mockplus
If your design team works with prototypes, this tool will help you collaborate with ease. Mockplus makes it simple to create, share, and test interactive prototypes. Your entire team can collaborate to improve designs without having to send files back and forth.
You don’t have to know code to streamline and validate your prototypes with MockPlus. You get access to pre-designed components, design assets, and icons. The simple interface empowers you to create dynamic and reusable design systems that scale.
4. Red Pen
Red Pen simplifies the feedback process by enabling clients to click on specific areas on the screen to submit their feedback. Often, clients forget to preface their responses to your work with sufficient context to identify what they’re looking at, yet they expect designers to read their mind.
When clients can click on the target area, Red Pen makes it much easier for designers to understand the context for a client’s feedback. Say goodbye to a flood of email exchanges with incomplete sentences that require you to become a mind reader.
With Red Pen, your team can implement feedback in a way that meets your clients’ expectations. You can also use this software to generate specific feedback from other team members.
5. Mural
Through the use of a whiteboard-style design, Mural makes online brainstorming easy and fun. Design teams regularly experience bursts of inspiration, and Mural can facilitate that activity in a variety of ways.
For example, your team can add voice notes, links, documents, and images to the whiteboard. It’s like an interactive mind map with whiteboard capabilities.
Cloud collaboration supports teamwork
They say teamwork makes the dream work, and it’s true. In today’s tech-centered world, however, the dream typically works better in the cloud.
