Sticky notes on an online whiteboard
Press N (or pick the sticky note in the toolbar), click where the note should go and start typing — the note is ready for text the moment it lands. Long ideas are fine: the note grows to fit what you write.
- Six colours — yellow, pink, green, blue, orange and purple — to sort ideas by theme, person or priority.
- Fast duplicates: Ctrl + D copies a note, or hold Alt and drag to pull a copy off it.
- Any size: drag the corner handles to make headline notes bigger than the rest.
- Three fonts: hand-drawn, normal or code, in four sizes.
Make a mind map with connected ideas
Put the main topic in the middle — an ellipse works well — and branch ideas off it. Draw a line or arrow from the topic to each idea: the ends lock onto both shapes, so you can drag ideas around and the branches follow instead of breaking.
- Use lines (L) for plain branches and arrows (A) where direction matters.
- Switch an arrow to curved in the style panel for a softer, organic map.
- Double-click an arrow to write a label on it — “because”, “blocks”, “depends on”.
Cluster and sort ideas (affinity mapping)
When the ideas are out, sort them. Drag a box around a set of notes to select them all, then move them together. Useful tools once a cluster forms:
- Group (Ctrl + G) so a cluster moves as one piece.
- Align and distribute from the style panel to line notes up into tidy columns.
- Recolour a whole selection at once to mark a theme.
- Name the cluster with a text heading above it (T).
Run a brainstorming session online
For a remote session, one person shares their screen and adds notes while the group talks — everyone sees the board fill up in real time on the call. Afterwards, send a share link so each person gets an editable copy to add to. The whiteboard has no live co-editing, so a single person at the keyboard keeps the session moving.
To vote, give each person a colour and have them add a small dot or tick with the pen next to their favourites, then count the dots.
Brainstorming templates: mind map, SWOT, retrospective and kanban
These starting points are one click away in the menu under Templates:
- Mind map — a central topic with six sticky notes attached.
- SWOT analysis — strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in four quadrants.
- Sprint retrospective — Went well, To improve and Action items, with dot votes.
- Kanban board — To do, In progress and Done columns with notes to move across.
- Project timeline — a roadmap with milestones, for planning what comes next.
- Flowchart — for turning the chosen idea into steps.
A template is placed next to whatever is already on your board, never on top of it.
Keep and share the results
Export the board as a PNG for the meeting notes or a Slack thread, or as an SVG that stays sharp in a slide deck. Send a share link when someone should keep working on it, and use Save to file to archive the session as a .whiteboard file.
How to run a brainstorm on the whiteboard
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Write the question
Type the problem at the top of the board with the text tool, so everyone answers the same question.
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Add one sticky note per idea
Press N, click, type and repeat. Don't judge yet — quantity first.
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Cluster related notes
Drag similar ideas next to each other, then select each cluster and group it with Ctrl+G.
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Name the clusters
Add a short text heading above each group and recolour its notes to match the theme.
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Connect and decide
Draw arrows between clusters that affect each other, and mark the winners with a pen dot vote.
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Share the result
Export a PNG for the notes, or send a share link so the team can keep editing their own copy.