Inspiration

Hi there. I love what Lucidchart offers. I can see the potential but starting a new project is not that simple. For example what would a disaster risk management value chain look like when one needs to show linkages to bottlenecks stressors stakeholders and outcomes? Maybe somebody can help

Everyone knows big data is here to stay. As more and more data becomes easily available both the prevalence and importance of data-driven business solutions will increase. However InformationWeek Business Intelligence found that one of the primary barriers businesses face when they try to leverage data is a lack of visualization tools. Lucidchart believes there is no point to data for data’s sake. Instead Lucidchart aims to provide a simple way for anyone to visualize spreadsheet data with the new dynamic shape library. Dynamic shapes allow you to add static values or use formulas to calculate and display statistics such as total progress percentages and ratings directly on Lucidchart documents.   Specifically dynamic shapes can help you with data-driven project management. For example let’s say you need to plan an event for your company. From creating a budget picking a location and planning logistics to solidifying a promotional strategy and inviting guests there can be a seemin

The possibilities with Smart Containers are endless! While the inherent flexibility of Smart Containers makes it possible for you to customize how to use them it also makes it more difficult to grasp the full potential of the feature. When the sky's the limit where do you begin? First build a spreadsheet for your marketing campaign. Often organizing a marketing campaign means breaking down large projects into smaller tasks and then delegating these tasks to sub-teams or individual team members. These smaller tasks usually end up in a spreadsheet which looks something like this: These large spreadsheets often act as the center for information but it is often tedious to find information quickly and difficult to rearrange the spreadsheet’s format. Smart Containers go further and provide the tools to visualize and organize data. Lucidchart lets you import existing spreadsheets. Next separate your information into Smart Containers. To determine how your data is organized you’re asked to cho

System maps are a great way to visualize the flow of data through your organization's tools and systems. You can add even more comprehensive information to your system map by combining data linking and conditional formatting, for example to show the location the data is stored in and the type of data (e.g. employee data, financial data, customer data, etc.). A great example of this is the “Systems & Data Mapping” template in our template gallery.   How do you use Lucid to map your organization’s systems? We’d love to hear some tips and tricks you have found

Hi! I’m one of the Sr. SE’s at Lucid and I wanted to share a fun tip on how to use shape actions and your diagram key to allow anyone looking at your document to turn on and off the conditional formatting. Check it out!! https://play.goconsensus.com/sde44490a

I recently gave a talk at a local event here in the UK. The event is for everyone although has a UX angle in its approach and themes.  I speak at it every year and love it but always have struggled to plan out what I was going to say. However, in the last couple of years I’ve used a LucidSpark board to get my ideas down and then organise them afterwards and this works great.I can now have all my ideas, plus references and links together and can easily reorder them before transferring them into PowerPoint / Keynote slides. Give it a go!  

Before Lucid, we tried using Word docs or spreadsheets to share project information, but these tools didn’t allow us to easily raise concerns, ask questions, and get on the same page.Lucid has completely transformed our kick-off process! Here’s what we do: 1. Create and share a project brief.First, we create a project brief in Lucid, documenting information like project requirements and goals. We also add links and images so stakeholders can easily visualize relevant examples.  We then share the brief with all project team members so they can leave input asynchronously. We make sure everyone has had a chance to review the briefs before our live kick-off meeting so we can jump right into productive, meaningful discussion. Create your own project brief with this template!3. Brainstorm.Next, the team brainstorms different ways to achieve the project goal, using a variety of facilitation tools, including:A timer to keep the session on track. A laser pointer to focus attention on key points

Hello IT Group members! You may have seen a couple of posts about our recent webinar announced by Lucid’s Director of IT Alan ( @arf ) in this post! We had a lot of engagement and questions come from our participants! We thought the answers might be beneficial for everyone. Here are a few questions we saw surrounding integrations/compatibility:  Q: How could the Lucid team help in convincing an organization to go ahead with AI feature? A: The best approach is to communicate with your account admin and have them reach out to your Lucid account executive. They can discuss the benefits of Lucid’s AI functionality and determine if it’s suitable for your organization. Q: Can Lucidchart default to a specific tab when loaded in Confluence? A: You can choose which page tab you'd like to display in Confluence Cloud when editing the macro after inserting the diagram under the Advanced viewer options in the macro settings OR by adjusting the macros properties in Confluence Server/DC. If you have

Inspired by feedback from a survey distributed to Lucid Champions, an exclusive, customer-centric program for Lucid’s most dedicated users, we rounded up 5 Lucidspark features you may not be using—but should be!TasksAssign a collaborator to a task to notify them of something that needs their attention. Tasks are great when you need approval, have a follow-up question, need to double-check work, and more!  GatherThe Gather tool can be used for brainstorming. It allows you to easily gather sticky notes into groups based on these categories: emoji reactions, reactions by collaborator, keywords, colors, tags, votes, and votes by collaborator. You can even gather using multiple categories!  Quick CleanupQuick Cleanup is another way to organize your sticky notes after an ideation session. Use Quick Cleanup to align sticky notes so that they’re not all over the canvas. Magic ShapeWith Magic Shape, you don’t have to spend time trying to draw the perfect shape yourself freehand. Simply draw a r

Thank you for joining us for our webinar, “How to facilitate a successful big room planning event”! (If you didn’t have the chance to join, you can access the webinar on demand here. The webinar is full of tips from experienced Agile coaches, plus some real Lucid examples.) Check out these additional resources for your next big room planning event:Free template: Release planning event Blog post: The definitive big room planning guide (+ a template toolkit) Lucid Training Labs: Big room planning guide Help center: Using Timelines in Lucidspark Help center: Get started with Visual Activities in Lucid Free template: Burndown chart Free template: Current vs. future state flowchart example Help center: Using Dynamic Shapes to track progress Help center: Adding swimlanes to diagrams Help center: Linking data to diagrams Integration: Lucid's integrations with Jira Integration: Lucid's integration with Azure DevOpsIf you have questions about using Lucidchart, Lucidspark, or Lucidscale, please

Hey everyone! Do you have a go-to Lucid template you rely on to facilitate group discussions and workshops? 🤓 One of my favorites is the Parking lot matrix template. It helps groups keep discussions focused and meetings on track while providing a place to capture the great ideas and tangent thoughts that inevitably come up when talented brains come together! You can try out this template here and browse other template options in the Lucidspark Template Gallery!💡Now it’s your turn: Share your must-try template in the comments so we can give it a shot! 💡  

Today’s shifting and increasingly hybrid workforce presents a new set of challenges that can make it difficult to uphold Agile values. Our recent webinar, Sustaining the values of the Agile Manifesto in today’s workforce, demonstrated in-depth how Lucid is the perfect solution to address the need for communication, flexibility, and alignment. Here are the four main Agile Manifesto values and how Lucid can help you sustain them:Individual and interaction over process and tools  Lucid products support communication and transparency, as our products support both real-time and asynchronous collaboration. Features such as comments, Team Spaces, Visual Activities, and more, give team members a place to consistently come back to for connection and knowledge-sharing, giving everyone a voice. Working software over comprehensive documentation  Lucid helps here with alignment and avoiding over-documentation because Lucid documents can become a living blueprint of your business. Customer collab

Hey all! Facilitating design workshops is such an important part of product/UX teams’ workflows. Especially when it comes to facilitating great collaboration! When you bring creative individuals together and get them working on a shared visual canvas, magic happens.   We use Lucid to facilitate design workshops. This is our process:We outline the problems and define goals. Lucid’s flexible canvas allows us to organize sticky notes into clear frames, import key data, and share files for team reference. This outlining method lets us gather all the necessary context in one shared place Then we generate ideas, build on inspiration, and sketch out basic mocks. Lucid’s design thinking workshop template provides the basic structure to run a brainstorming and design session with your team, all from one shared space. From there, we start making decisions. We use voting and Visual Activities to organize and rank ideas, vote on the best ones, and build consensus quickly. What once took 90 minutes

Give everyone a voice and improve engagement during retrospective meetings by making the most out of Lucidspark’s Team and Collaboration Tools:Set a timer to keep the discussion around each topic focused and on track. Leverage emoji reactions to get a pulse on how each collaborator feels while identifying the most popular ideas.  Add comments to call out action items and assign tasks to collaborators. Voilá! 🎉 Your team is ready for a new cycle of iteration toward continuous improvement! What about your tips? Share below how you use Lucidspark to lead your team to look ahead through looking back!

Streamline your backlog refinement meetings and facilitate a collaborative decision-making process using Lucid cards for Jira! The trick is to make your product backlog visual, giving transparency to stakeholders as your team sees the bigger picture and aligns on the next steps. First, import your backlog items into Lucidspark to display them as cards. From there, you can organize items around sprints, determine dependencies, set actionable goals, and keep track of progress. For detailed steps, check out this Help Center article! If you need an inspiration boost, take a look at this blog post! We want to hear from you – how do you use Lucid Cards to manage your backlog?

Have you ever wanted to have an easy indicator of the total number of items/cards in a Dynamic Table’s rows or columns? Check out this video to learn how to make a basic rule for number of cards - and even to display another aspect, like total number of Jira story points! Total up the number of cards/items!Sum up the Story Points in a column/row! Video link: https://play.goconsensus.com/s401d82c4

Successfully onboarding new engineers comes with a number of challenges. From getting your new hire caught up on team structure, to supporting them with learning your systems and code, visual aids can play a key role. How do you use diagrams and boards in your onboarding process for new engineers?

At Lucid, our engineering teams use Lucidspark to document and share sprint reviews for their individual Scrum teams with other stakeholders at Lucid. How does your organization facilitate and document sprint reviews? If you’re looking for some inspiration, check out our Sprint review team room template! 

Did you know Lucidspark offers Scrum board templates to help manage sprints, plan and review meetings, and stay work-focused? This solution allows teams to prioritize tasks and keep track of goals, progress and individual commitments.Here are some reasons why Lucidspark is an excellent tool for creating Scrum boards: You can update your Scrum board in real time, allowing remote collaboration and tracking individual collaborators' edits. Add sticky notes with tasks, and then add each task to your product backlog for your team to get started. Collaboration tools like @mention comments, in-editor chat, and emoji reactions allow teams to share ideas and feedback while keeping track of project needs. Connect with powerful integrations like Google Drive and Slack! You can also export your Scrum board to Lucidchart for polished deliverables and access a broader range of creative tools. Users can build Scrum task boards from scratch or use pre-made templates.Explore our template gallery on thi

We are considering of using Lucidspark for retro activities, and I wanted to ask what is your go-to trick for making such meetings even more engaging?

This product is one of my favorite tools with my teams. I am mainly using this Scaled Agile environment but would be interested to see how this is used in other frameworks or in waterfall.

Ever found yourself overwhelmed by urgent requests, struggling to maintain order? I’ve been there too. I’d love to show you how I use Lucid to provide a clear visualization of resources and time. Perhaps you can adopt the same style, or pick up some tricks from it! Of course, Sprint planning is taken care of with Lucid, but I wanted to also ensure seamless integration and communication, simplifying all processes for my teammates as well. I lean on Lucid to be my agile assistant to make this happen! Now when unexpected requests disrupt my plans, making swift adjustments is effortless and my whole team is on the same page. Take a look at our example below and let's elevate your IT endeavors to a new level. We also have many “Sprint Planning” templates like this one available in our template library! Do you have a similar planning process? Show us how you use Lucid for sprint planning, tracking, and communicating!

This week, we’re hosting a webinar with experienced Agile coaches and Lucid experts on how you can uphold Agile values in today’s shifting workforce. During the webinar, they will:Discuss the shifting challenges of upholding Agile values.  Give practical tips for upholding Agile values across your organization. Show how Lucid can help you stay aligned with the values of the Agile Manifesto.Here’s the info you need to register—hope to see you Thursday! Sustaining the values of the Agile Manifesto in today’s workforceDate: February 29, 2024Time: 1 p.m. MST (3 p.m. EST)Register now

Hey everyone—let’s talk about product planning! I want to know: What features, integrations, templates, or tips do you use in product planning? 🤔We’ll start with a couple of tips from Lucid’s product team:Tip #1: Prioritize ideas with Visual Activities! After our initial product planning workshop, we need a way to narrow down ideas. Visual Activities allows us to gather input from everyone and rank ideas to come to a consensus. Reaching a group decision used to take us hours of discussion but now is quick and painless. Try out an impact vs. effort activity here!Visual Activities helps us gather everyone’s input and prioritize product ideas faster than ever!  Tip #2: Use timelines and templates to easily create a roadmap.  We start with a template—like this customizable roadmap template—to map out timelines, assign roles, and track tasks so everyone is on the same page.  Check out more ways our product and UX teams use Lucid.Now it’s your turn! Share your ideas in the comments below 👇

Hi everyone! I wanted to get your thoughts on designing customer journey maps. Do you swear by any features, templates, tips, integrations, or capabilities for the customer journey mapping process? 🤔Lucid’s product team tackles this process in four steps:Capture insights from user interviews in Lucid Create personas and map user experiences Align on what users are experiencing and make decisions based on actual customer experience and data Turn those insights into impactful changesHere’s one of the templates they use to map the customer journey!  Check out more ways our product and UX teams use Lucid.I’d love to hear more about your experience and tips! Share your thoughts in the comments! 👇