Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
reviewer1476996 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Business Analyst at a consultancy with 5,001-10,000 employees
MSP
Enables people to feel a sense engagement and collaboration, creating a two-way street
Pros and Cons
  • "The virtual whiteboard is also absolutely fantastic. It has streamlined all of those aspects that we would have done via PowerPoints and other types of on-the-fly screen sharing that were used in the past. Now, everyone can be in the same space. That part of it really helps us to feel confident and allows us to be more engaged with the client and vice-versa, with the client being engaged with us."
  • "I hope that one of the updates will be a zoom-in/zoom-out function that's a little different than what they currently have, just to make it flow better when you're trying to move in and out of the board. I know they're working on it and that would be great, once they get that together."

What is our primary use case?

What we've used it for so far is facilitating a couple of meetings.

We used it in a discovery gathering session with a client and they were all given the link to jump into the board. We gave them the ability to create and edit while we retained the overall power to move things and keep everyone focused. That was good and they enjoyed it. With COVID this year, they said it was a really great, innovative tool to use since everyone was sitting in their individual homes.

How has it helped my organization?

Using it with clients has really helped with the facilitation on our end, as the facilitators, but also for the clients who are using the process for the first time. We were able to get people in who are not super-technical to understand how to work it, and why we're using it. That actually went pretty fast and was an easy process.

People seem more engaged during virtual sessions when compared to in-person sessions. When I talked with the product owner of the product we're working on, in the most recent session we did, she said that all of her people really enjoyed it. She's been with her team for 13 years and they're getting ready to make a lot of changes. And even though everyone's apart she's said, "It was actually really nice to bring everyone together." Everyone was talking and having a good time and listening, and they were finding out things that all of them didn't like about their old system. And from my team's perspective, they said, "Oh, this is a fantastic collaboration tool." It allows for people to really feel a sense of "I'm engaged," and a sense that "the client hears me, and I'm listening to the client." It created a two-way street, more so than a lot of the time when you're in the beginning of a collaboration session in-person. In the latter situation, you're very much talking at the client. This cuts out that 10 minutes. Then you just say, "Okay, let's take a tour, and here's how it works."

Also, often, in an in-person session, you would go in with a predetermined amount of whiteboards to put sticky notes on. With this solution, if something else comes up that we didn't even think of, we can throw a quick new space on the board for that. That, alone, is nice on the virtual side.

Lucidspark also enables you to prioritize ideas. We used a couple of different functionalities that allow for that and we did enjoy that as a team. To be able to put things into various boxes or containers that I had created allowed for a much quicker process than trying to move sticky notes in-person. You're not walking across the floor.

It also has features to tag and automatically group ideas to help organize and synthesize ideas after a brainstorming session. Once we close out a session, my team does an assessment of everything. We go over it with the client first, just to make sure that that is what they were saying. Then we go in and clean it up ourselves afterwards. Those features are good as we do a team debrief meeting. We are able to keep things moving and not take a lot of time trying to decipher things. That ability to tag or move things around really helps us.

In terms of patterns and themes, we were only really looking for pain points and wishlist items. We didn't go too deep into that space, but we did use it for that. We were trying to group things into various buckets within our client's current system, to share how their system is currently interacting, and what their issues are. It really did help us to pinpoint those things with better clarity. We could then go back to the product owner and ask her to validate each thing, and each was in a specific box. She could just look at them all and say, "yes" or "no." It did help very much.

The tagging means we're able to take everything from the board, the way we aligned it, and then transpose that immediately into a document for the product owner and all of the stakeholders. They can look at it, review it very quickly and validate, while using snapshots from within the Lucidspark board itself. The ability to automatically group ideas helps save time. 

Overall, Lucidspark has brought the productivity of our working and brainstorming sessions up to a new level. All of my team felt confident. They enjoyed it. A lot of them said it was the best session that they've been in, ever. The product owner we were working with, a group that had never used a system like this because their organization is a government entity, was a little scared at first, but once we showed them how easy it is, they were loving it. That helped us and made me feel confident too: "Oh yeah, this is good." People enjoy this and it's something that we're definitely going to continue to use because of its ease, but also because of how it just allowed for everyone to feel, and to know everything was being recorded on the board. Nothing was lost or missed. And in terms of productivity, normally we would be holding about a two-hour meeting. We kept each of these meetings to 90 minutes because of the streamlining of the features.

What is most valuable?

For me, being able to drop things into the board has been the greatest experience. In the middle of conversation, when I'm facilitating, and especially if I don't have a second facilitator, I'm able to just drop things in and keep moving. That allows us, as the company overseeing the whole process for the innovation that's happening, to stay at a good pace. That's the best part. Those drop-in features have been excellent.

We used to use other products in the past to create similar end goals, but now we are able to automatically add in certain things. One of our biggest hindrances with other programs was Swimlanes. While you're in the middle of the meeting and someone says, "Hey, let's add Swimlanes," you can add them on-the-fly. You just click it and do it. That's been a really wonderful experience. It's not just Swimlanes. There are a lot of things where, while we're in the middle of a meeting with either a client or an internal meeting, we're able to collaborate altogether. That has really been a benefit of the product.

I like the Lucidspark user interface and its intuitiveness. One of the things I definitely enjoy about the interface itself is that I switch between a mouse pad and a trackpad. Just that factor, when you're trying to move things quickly and go to another spot on the board— because you're under a time constraint, especially with meetings today—is really helpful.

The virtual whiteboard is also absolutely fantastic. It has streamlined all of those aspects that we would have done via PowerPoints and other types of on-the-fly screen sharing that were used in the past. Now, everyone can be in the same space. That part of it really helps us to feel confident and allows us to be more engaged with the client and vice-versa, with the client being engaged with us.

In addition, the Collaborator Colors feature is important, especially when you have more than three people on a board, because otherwise you get lost. It allows for us to feel a sense that everyone is there. Everyone is not the same color, whereas with other systems they all have the same color, and that limits your ability as a facilitator. When they're all the same color you're having to go click on the actual tab and see who wrote what. So this is a very good functionality.

What needs improvement?

One of the things that was mentioned in the training is that they're working on some updates. I hope that one of the updates will be a zoom-in/zoom-out function that's a little different than what they currently have, just to make it flow better when you're trying to move in and out of the board. I know they're working on it and that would be great, once they get that together.

In terms of the engagement factor, we did get a little bit of feedback that it would be helpful to have some type of a training walk-through board from Lucidspark, a template for people who haven't used the solution.

The biggest lesson learned from using Lucidspark, for me, was getting everybody into the board and getting them comfortable. I looked through the templates and there isn't a "Getting To Know Lucidspark" template for people who are not licensed users. I learned that I needed to actually dedicate 15 or 20 minutes just to get people used to everything. Nobody knew how to use it so I had to get everyone up to speed. Once they were up to speed, they were fine and they were able to flow through it. That's something that I can say I need to do: to make sure I give more time for that, whenever I get another new client onboard with the solution.

Buyer's Guide
Lucidspark
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Lucidspark. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Lucidspark for about two months .

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is great. It responds well when we have 10 or 15 people in the board at one time. Everyone was able to enter stuff in. It wasn't like there was any lag, and people weren't getting frustrated. That's my gauge. If people start getting frustrated with a system or an interface then you know there are issues. But none of that happened here.

How are customer service and support?

I haven't used customer support for Lucidspark.

How was the initial setup?

I didn't have any issue with the setup. I thought it was great. It was set up right away and it was not difficult. To get everything set up took an hour or so.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

My company also uses MURAL. At this point, I think the company is going to keep both because some people like one system and some like the other system. I enjoy both. Both have very similar interfaces and each has its own functionalities.

The zoom-in/out feature I mentioned earlier is something that MURAL has. That is the biggest thing that Lucid can work on, and it sounds like they're doing that.

What other advice do I have?

I also use Lucidchart as a business analyst. I create my business process models in there, as well as other types of modeling for other projects that I'm on. The Lucid suite is great because I can draw Lucidchart right into the Lucidspark board and grow it right there, especially if I'm looking for validation from clients. It allows for a much smoother operation for everybody. I can just say, "Hey, is this correct?" and they can validate the process model right there. It enables that process. And the connectedness between the two different programs that I use is great.

It's been very easy for us to move ideas from the idea stage to execution because we're able to visualize everything right there. From that point, we can just draw out the conclusions that we need and put that right into the development team.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Systems Operator at Replicant Project
Real User
The ability to automatically group ideas helps save time in organizing them
Pros and Cons
  • "In terms of the most valuable features, I like that we can compare a report to our templates. That is really useful. I saw that it has all of these templates that I can use. I also love that I can use my own images."
  • "The tracing is inaccurate and we have to do the drawing ourselves."

What is our primary use case?

We are using Lucidspark for brainstorms and for meetings.

We have also been using it for our action plan, to plan our strategy steps.

How has it helped my organization?

Lucidspark has made my organization more creative and it's easier to do creative techniques.

It enables us to prioritize ideas. It's very important that it has that ability.

It makes the overall productivity of our working and brainstorming sessions better. It increases our productivity. It saves us time and gives us more time to discuss what is more important. We find it causes there to be more engagement and this attitude also helps us be more focused.

What is most valuable?

In terms of the most valuable features, I like that we can compare a report to our templates. That is really useful. I saw that it has all of these templates that I can use. I also love that I can use my own images.

It's really easy to use and intuitive. It's very understandable, everything is easy to get.

The virtual whiteboard is excellent. It's easy to use. 

With the templates and the work that you do, you can convert it into a template and you can use it later.

I don't use the Collaborator Colors feature in Lucidspark but I have been using the same tool in Lucidchart. I suppose it's the same. We have been using it. We all see the same screen on the computer or we can project it.

It has features to tag and automatically group ideas to help organize and synthesize ideas after a brainstorming session. This ability makes it easier to help find patterns and themes among the ideas. Its ability to automatically group ideas helps save time in organizing ideas rather than having to manually group and bundle ideas. It saves the two hours it takes to get all the materials that we would have to use if it was manual.

It absolutely enables us to spend more time discussing and revising ideas and next steps and less time organizing them. It is very important because time is very valuable.

What needs improvement?

It doesn't respond instantly and the traces that we make are not that accurate. We have to use it in a slower way. We can't do a quick drawing because it doesn't respond accurately.

The tracing is inaccurate and we have to do the drawing ourselves.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Lucidspark for about a month. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's very scalable. The amount of users who use it depends on what we're working on. 

It doesn't require much staff for maintenance or deployment. It's very easy.

We do have plans to increase usage.

How are customer service and support?

Their technical support is good. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

This is easier to use than other solutions.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very simple. It took a couple of minutes. We had a quick understanding of how to use it and how it could help us. It was easy to communicate to everyone about how Lucidspark could help us. It was enough to be able to use it.

What about the implementation team?

I didn't use an integrator. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There are no additional costs to standard licensing. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I found out about Lucidspark because I was using Lucidchart.

What other advice do I have?

I absolutely recommend it because it increases communication with your team.

My advice would be to just try it because it's amazing and when you start using it you'll see that it is an excellent tool.

I would rate Lucidspark a nine out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Lucidspark
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Lucidspark. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Agile Coach at Beeline
Real User
Helps us be more organized in facilitating meetings, but the UI feels very basic
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution’s virtual whiteboard for brainstorming is great. It feels like I have an endless board where I can zoom out and draw everybody to what I'm looking at. It's invaluable, especially right now when most people work remotely."
  • "There is room for improvement with the user interface. It almost feels "uncooked." It sometimes feels like a prototype rather than the real thing."

What is our primary use case?

I'm an Agile coach, so I use Lucidspark to facilitate retrospectives and user-story workshops.

We're using the latest web version.

How has it helped my organization?

As an Agile coach, where I'm currently working, Lucidspark enables me to create a kind of a forum to collaborate. Whether it's with games, whether it's with discussion, whether it's brainstorming, having a tool like Lucidspark has definitely helped us to be more organized in the way we facilitate meetings. Having something that we can present to people and get them to engage with has been very valuable.

I'm also able to use the solution to prioritize ideas. We use Lucidspark for story-boarding and story planning. When I'm facilitating meetings, I get the product owners to talk about features that they want to develop and then put them on the board. Then, I assist the process of discussions where they prioritize the items that they wrote in their sticky notes. As a result, we're able to collaboratively see the prioritization of the work items. We then end up exporting what we've discussed in these meetings to the tool that we use for product development, Jira, and take it from there.

And it allows us to sort ideas, especially when I do retrospectives with my teams. I'm able to ask questions about things that went well and what didn't go well, based on what people put up on the board. I'm able to categorize them and talk about them, and that really does save us time in our meetings. That's especially true in collaboration, with everybody looking at the board and seeing what I'm talking about or what somebody else is talking about. It does save us time rather than getting people to just talk.

In terms of the productivity of our brainstorming sessions, it has probably made us 80 percent more efficient. With things like story-writing sessions, rather than getting people to talk about the user stories they want to work on, or having them go off to Google Sheets, having everybody work together to put their ideas out there and then sort and prioritize those ideas, definitely saves us time, compared to copying and pasting things from Excel documents onto very flat document structures.

What is most valuable?

The sticky notes are the most valuable feature we use in Lucidspark. In a lot of the meetings that we conduct, we want people to be able to express themselves. They can grab sticky notes to write down an idea they're thinking about. Using the sticky notes, we can talk through each of the notes that my teams use, or we can sort them based on the kind of feedback we're getting from the questions we throw at them.

The solution’s virtual whiteboard for brainstorming is great. It feels like I have an endless board where I can zoom out and draw everybody to what I'm looking at. It's invaluable, especially right now when most people work remotely.

I have also integrated Lucidspark with Microsoft Teams, so that it is connected to my team's daily stand-ups. While people are talking, or they have ideas, or they need to have a discussion after the meeting, they can just grab a sticky note and place it there. That's something that is publicly available for everybody else on the team. This is an important capability.

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement with the user interface. It almost feels "uncooked." It sometimes feels like a prototype rather than the real thing.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Lucidspark for about a month now. I started this job recently and, so far, this is what we've been using. The company itself has been using it for a few months. All our users are scrum masters and Agile coaches.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I haven't experienced any outages or latency problems with Lucidspark.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It scales well. I have not had any problems with scalability. We've had sessions where there have been 50 people participating and I haven't been aware of any problems. In our company, it's the product development team that uses the solution and that's about 100 people.

We are using about 30 to 40 percent of what Lucidspark offers and those features work best for what we use it for. There are other features of Lucidspark that we probably don't require. We don't have plans to expand usage at the moment.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have not had to call Lucidspark's tech support.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I had always been a Mural person until I started working with this company. In terms of the user interface, Lucidspark feels very basic compared to Mural. The Mural interface seems a little more straightforward. Lucidspark is a little bit intuitive, but that aspect could be better. There have been situations where I was trying to look for a timer, for instance, and I didn't find it right on time. Also, when someone shares something with me or I need to look through one of the boards I created, finding it doesn't feel as intuitive as I would like.

Also, I wish Lucidspark had an iPad app. Maybe it has one but I'm not aware of it. I have to use a computer, and that is not as intuitive compared to when I was using Mural.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, Lucidspark is a very simple, straightforward application. Anybody will pick it up almost immediately. 

The only tip I have is that if you're going to create a line with the arrow, you just have to select "none" for the arrow points. The line and arrow tools are the same thing. That's something that is not very obvious.

In-person meetings will always trump virtual. People like a lot of engagement, even in-person. People are more engaged when you actually see them face to face. You put out a whiteboard and marker, et cetera. With virtual, it's a little challenging because, first of all, you have to walk people who are not as technically inclined through the tool itself, and sometimes on short notice. If I have a workshop that I want to create, I first have to introduce everybody to the tool, because they don't have the time to go through the tool themselves. Remote meetings pose their own challenges.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1472739 - PeerSpot reviewer
Research Associate at a real estate/law firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Creation of flowcharts and collaboration on them are easier than with PowerPoint
Pros and Cons
  • "I find it a whole lot easier for making a flowchart process. Previously, I would use PowerPoint and then have to share the file. It's a lot nicer for collaboration."
  • "There might be a way to do this in Lucidspark, but if there were a way to leave comments for internal collaborators, that would be good. Let's say we were brainstorming something. It would be helpful to have comments that we could see, but if we were to share a view with someone else, they wouldn't see those behind-the-scenes comments."

What is our primary use case?

So far, I have only used it for making flowcharts.

How has it helped my organization?

I find it a whole lot easier for making a flowchart process. Previously, I would use PowerPoint and then have to share the file. It's a lot nicer for collaboration.

What is most valuable?

I like that it saves everything for me in the cloud, and I can go back and change things. 

I also like how it has different shapes for the different actions on flowcharts.

I also found it very intuitive. I opened it up one day and I saw, "Button" and I didn't even have to look up how to use it.

What needs improvement?

There might be a way to do this in Lucidspark, but if there were a way to leave comments for internal collaborators, that would be good. Let's say we were brainstorming something. It would be helpful to have comments that we could see, but if we were to share a view with someone else, they wouldn't see those behind-the-scenes comments.

Also, it would be nice if they had something that I could share with co-workers, maybe a quick five-minute or something that shows, "Hey, this is the utility. You guys can do this."

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not used their technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used PowerPoint, but I don't really find that comparable.

I went to a little webinar and checked out Lucidspark, after I found Lucidchart randomly, one day, when I was working with my Microsoft 365. I needed to make a flowchart for something and Lucidchart worked really great and it was super-easy. Then I got an invite to try out Lucidspark, and it seems really cool. I haven't been able to test it with any of my co-workers, and I don't know if anyone else at our company uses it, but it does look really interesting.

What other advice do I have?

I honestly didn't even know that something like this existed, and I think it could be really helpful.

As far as functionality and usefulness go, it's great. I would rate it an eight out of 10, personally. But in the company I work for, even if it's the most amazing technology solution that will do everything that someone needs, rolling out something new and different is hard sometimes. So the eight isn't really so much about the product itself, it's more about how easy this would actually be to get people onboard with.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1616028 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Engineering Intern at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Makes it easy to create visually attractive flowcharts and collaborate online
Pros and Cons
  • "The online collaboration with the teammates and being able to represent things in a visually attractive way are the most valuable features. It has been a really nice experience to make such beautiful and visually attractive flowcharts by using Lucidspark. The best thing was that I could collaborate online with my teammates. Overall, it was a nice experience."
  • "There should be a feature for changing the color of the background, borders, etc. Such a feature will make the flowcharts more attractive."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use it for making flowcharts. I am using their web application.

How has it helped my organization?

It has helped me in representing all the hard work that I had put into my project in a visually appealing and better way. Without it, all the hard work that I did would not have got noticed properly.

We use Lucidspark's collaborate or colors feature in which we can assign each user a certain color to identify what each person is contributing. It is a really good feature. Our mentor assigned us with those, and with sticky notes, we get to know what we were doing, what we were missing, or what should be improved. It was very helpful, and we could directly improve things then and there.

Its integration with Salesforce was useful. For some of the demos, I was able to integrate the Salesforce platform with it, which was very helpful. I could do that in minimal time with Lucidspark. 

It helps us in spending more time discussing and revising ideas and next steps and less time organizing them. It enables us in fine-tuning and improving the ideas and representations and making our flowcharts visually better and accurate. Its virtual whiteboard is also great for collaboration.

What is most valuable?

The online collaboration with the teammates and being able to represent things in a visually attractive way are the most valuable features. It has been a really nice experience to make such beautiful and visually attractive flowcharts by using Lucidspark. The best thing was that I could collaborate online with my teammates. Overall, it was a nice experience.

It provides different features, and we can also see the flowcharts in the PDF format and different image formats.

Its user interface and intuitiveness are great. It is easy to use, and it makes things easier. If you have experience in making flowcharts on other sites, you will find Lucidspark to be an easier version of those sites.

It has many features similar to what other sites provide. However, when we make flowcharts on any other platform or site, it becomes very difficult to get it synchronized, but with Lucidspark, we can directly synchronize flowcharts. We were a team of three to four, and we collaborated through Lucidspark to create flowcharts. It was a way easier to collaborate and make the best flowcharts with Lucidspark. 

What needs improvement?

There should be a feature for changing the color of the background, borders, etc. Such a feature will make the flowcharts more attractive.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Lucidspark for one month. My company has been using it for a longer duration.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I didn't find any issue related to its stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There were no issues related to its scalability. We have around 500 users, and almost everyone who wishes to make flowcharts for documentation, demo, and presentation can use it. It is available for all. Its future usage will depend on the requirements.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not contacted their technical support.

What other advice do I have?

The biggest lesson that I have learned from using this solution is that it is important to represent your work in a visually attractive and easy-to-understand way. 

I would rate Lucidspark a nine out of 10.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1615422 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Scientist at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Intuitive, flexible, time-saving, easy solution to use that has a lot of helpful features
Pros and Cons
  • "It definitely helps when prioritizing things. For a business problem, you can create many different documents and easily compare them, then you can decide which one that you want to go forward with."
  • "One thing that I noticed, when I was creating a document or something else, is a lot of empty space. If I am creating from a particular position, there is a lot of empty space above it. I am not sure why this happens. If there is a solution for this, then it would help."

What is our primary use case?

I use Lucidspark to brainstorm ideas. Suppose I want to create a new dashboard or new visualization in Power BI or Tableau. Before doing that, I want to brainstorm how I want my visualization to be. For that purpose, I am using Lucidspark.

How has it helped my organization?

I usually brainstorm my ideas, e.g., what do I want to create? Once you have a certain view in your mind and if you can put that into a document or something else, then it helps when you try to create the visualization or any dashboards in the real world. You can create any visualization that you want. It definitely helps in that way.

What is most valuable?

It is quite flexible. It is simply drag and drop. It saves a lot of time. One of the good things is you can export whatever you are creating into a PDF or something else. Also, you can share your work with others so they can collaborate and make any changes, if they wish to.

I really like Lucidspark's user interface and intuitiveness. It is simple and flexible.

It has so many things. You can insert images, screenshots, etc. There are also a lot of templates for our use, which is a good thing. For example, if I have a particular plan and can find a new template relevant, then I base it on that. I just need to edit the text, etc.

It definitely helps when prioritizing things. For a business problem, you can create many different documents and easily compare them, then you can decide which one that you want to go forward with.

There are so many features that you can do. There is also a presentation builder where you can use the documents that you are creating as a presentation. 

What needs improvement?

One thing that I noticed, when I was creating a document or something else, is a lot of empty space. If I am creating from a particular position, there is a lot of empty space above it. I am not sure why this happens. If there is a solution for this, then it would help.

For how long have I used the solution?

Recently, I requested a license from my company for this software. I have been using the tool for the past week.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In the last week, I haven't faced any kinds of issues or difficulties.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I haven't found any limitations or downsides. It provides you with everything that you need to brainstorm your ideas. 

There are many data scientists using this particular software in our company. Some are using Lucidspark, while some are also using Lucidchart,

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not contacted the technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used to simply use PowerPoint, Paint, or something like that previously. This is the first time that I am using this kind of software.

In PowerPoint, you need a lot of effort if you want to create even a simple text box or insert images. So, it takes a lot of effort and is also very time-consuming. Whereas, with Lucidspark's interfaces, you can simply drag and drop whatever you want and quickly create anything that you want to create. This saves time and makes it easy to use.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is very straightforward. You need to log into it, then you can simply start creating anything you want. There is no complexity.

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely give it a nine out of 10. I really like it. I would recommend others to use this particular software, since it is intuitive, flexible, time-saving, and easy to use. It has a lot of features that definitely help.

I have not used the Collaborator Colors feature, but we will use it in the future.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Student at a university with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Intuitive And Easy To Use; Customizable Whiteboard Can Be Used By Multiple People Simultaneously
Pros and Cons
  • "I found the whiteboard very customizable. You can create different stages of a flow chart, for example. You can play around with a lot of variables."
  • "One challenge we ran into while collaborating on Lucidspark was tracking time. We would, for example, set aside 90 minutes for a particular task but end up spending a lot more time on it. It would be great to see if Lucidspark could also help us keep track of time. That feedback would be beneficial."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case for this solution was educational. I used Lucidspark to practice design thinking with several other students. It's a good place for collaborative work. 

Some of the students I collaborated with were interested in product management, a big part of which entails thinking from the customer's perspective and figuring out what the solutions to a problem should be.

As a group, we used Lucidspark to collaborate and share our thoughts on potential problems and solutions. Think of it like a human design-thinking workshop.

How has it helped my organization?

Lucidspark helped us prioritize ideas, which was very important for us. We did a workshop and, as part of that, we were trying to act as product managers and figure out which solutions should be implemented, so idea prioritization played a major role.

The ability to group ideas automatically does save time. For example, four people can put their thoughts down and Lucidspark will help them see the commonalities and patterns among their entries.

Lucidspark's ability to automatically group ideas saves time and helps users prioritize. This Lucidspark feature quickly distills the entire group's ideas into different buckets. The group can then make a call on what to first solve for. This is how we used Lucidspark. We knew that we would come up with multiple ideas but we wanted to see which buckets most people would fall into. 

This feature is helpful if, for example, you are trying to identify the problems associated with a particular product and prioritize which to work on first.

With Lucidspark, you really don't have to keep track of everything because so much is automated. The solution enables you to spend more time discussing and revising ideas and less time organizing. This was important for us. Had we been using some other solution, like Notepad, for example, a lot more time would have been spent in writing things down. With Lucidspark, we spent very little time doing that. It definitely improved our productivity.

Lucidspark is very customizable. We spent more time in ideation rather than making sure we were writing in a way that is clear and that nothing was lost.

What is most valuable?

Overall, I found it very intuitive and easy to use. I didn't find it difficult at all. I appreciated Lucidspark's integration with Lucidchart. 

I found the whiteboard very customizable. You can create different stages of a flow chart, for example. You can play around with a lot of variables. Initially, the default structure of the whiteboard was not useful for us. However, we were quickly able to change the structure. I found the whiteboard easy to use and change. It’s easy to collaborate using this product. Also, multiple people can use the whiteboard at the same time. For example, I can be filling in something while my classmates fill in something else. This is helpful.

We used Lucidspark’s Collaborator Colors feature. I've never come across anything like it. It's a good solution for collaborative brainstorming. I don't think there is any other solution where I could do collaborative brainstorming this well.

We also used the sticky notes quite often. We would write our thoughts on a sticky note and then circle back in five minutes to discuss what we put together.

What needs improvement?

One challenge we ran into while collaborating on Lucidspark was tracking time. We would, for example, set aside 90 minutes for a particular task but end up spending a lot more time on it. It would be great to see if Lucidspark could also help us keep track of time. That feedback would be beneficial.  

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used Lucidspark a couple of times as part of some group activities. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I did not run into any issues with stability. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Lucidspark seems scalable; like any number of people could use it. We've used it in groups of five to six people. I plan to increase my usage.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not used their tech support yet. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I never knew something like Lucidspark existed before. For previous brainstorming sessions, I would just use a projector and open up Notepad. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward. It only took a few minutes. 

Initially, it was straightforward to use and play around with the whiteboard. I was immediately able to start working on it. It didn't take me more than two or three minutes to get started.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it ourselves. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I am still using a free trial. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I did not evaluate other options. 

What other advice do I have?

Lucidspark is a great product. I would definitely recommend it to anybody who's thinking of doing some collaborative brainstorming work. The solution can also be used by individuals working on big projects. 

I didn't notice a difference between remote and in-person sessions. Using Lucidspark, it felt like all of us were working in-person on a huge whiteboard. You could see in real-time what everyone else was doing.

I haven’t used Lucidspark’s Slack integration, but it seems useful and natural.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
Social Media Coordinator
Real User
Enables us to spend more time discussing and revising ideas and next steps and less time organizing them
Pros and Cons
  • "The virtual whiteboard board is amazing. That is something that we've all needed, and I wish I knew about this back when I was focusing on my master's in university. That would have made things so easy. I struggled with MindManager and all these other free programs that you can use to make your mind maps and share your process with your supervisors and your classmates. Lucidspark would have been a lot easier to use and would've been a really good thing to have back then."
  • "Some parts where the arrows flow tend to flow in a strange direction where you want to drag it to, and it requires a lot of adjusting here and there. It's just the flow of the arrow sometimes it gets a little tricky, and then when you move something else, it gets wonky, and then you have to go back and fix it up. That's the only thing that needs improvement."

What is our primary use case?

I mostly use it to make mind maps and some process charts for the place I work. Sort of like work processes, the flow of things, so everyone knows what you need to do.

I'm pretty sure that in the coming weeks when I start to use it more on a regular basis, maybe every day or a couple of times a week, that's probably when I will figure it out more. But for the time being, it's been really good.

We have started to integrate some stuff on Slack, but individually on its own, and then we've also started Lucidspark. At some point down the road, there will be an integration between the two programs, but we haven't started that yet. We're trying to move everything to Slack.

How has it helped my organization?

Now, if we need to have a project on hand, if it's a weekly project, or if it's a one-time project, all the processes are started right there. So instead of having to call the whole team and brief them step-by-step, you just send over the chart. Then from the colors and from the shapes, everyone in the team is quite familiar with the shapes and the colors. Everyone would know it, you wouldn't have to waste time. You could maybe save two hours of a meeting trying to explain everything to everyone.

We have only been using it for a week now but it has already made things so much more convenient. It's easier to see rather than just talking about it and sending each other notes.

It enables us to prioritize ideas. It's extremely important that we can do so because an idea is just an idea unless you actually decide to take the initiative and the effort to execute it and this has helped to do so.

We can also spend more time discussing and revising ideas and next steps and less time organizing them. We spend much less time. It saves hours of trying to explain stuff and back and forth.

If our effectiveness was at around a five or six before this, the process would have definitely helped move it to an eight or nine. There are still some improvements that need to be made, but I think once we actually make use of every single feature on the program, then we would be able to move up better. I have not seen a program like this in my past. And I know for a fact that in any other company, it would have helped, regardless of the field that the company is in, it would've helped definitely.

What is most valuable?

I like the freedom it gives you, how easily everything flows, and the fact that everything has labels on it, so the different shapes have different things. At first, when you start using it, you probably wouldn't know what every shape means. But as I go through it, I'll see a shape like the diamond and I'll know that a decision has been made and it needs to be sent for approval. So it's either a yes or a no, a pass or a fail. It makes things a little bit easier. 

I also like that you can color code it, so you know which departments are supposed to handle which parts of the process.

The user interface and intuitiveness are pretty good for what I've been using it for. It's pretty good, very easy to use, and very easy to understand. I like that they have a lot of tutorial videos that you can watch, so you're not just stranded there and trying to figure everything out for yourself.

The virtual whiteboard board is amazing. That is something that we've all needed, and I wish I knew about this back when I was focusing on my master's in university. That would have made things so easy. I struggled with MindManager and all these other free programs that you can use to make your mind maps and share your process with your supervisors and your classmates. Lucidspark would have been a lot easier to use and would've been a really good thing to have back then.

You can put anything down, you can add sticky notes, and then you can add certain hotspots. The arrows are easier to match as well because you can draw them from anywhere.

I use the Collaborator Colors feature. I've only just started incorporating that but it has been a blessing. It's very important where I'm working because it lets the whole team know the processes and which department is in charge of which section. So you know how crucial this department is for the next step to carry on and for the whole thing to run smoothly, whether it's a project or whether it's a weekly process.

I have used Lucidspark for remote and virtual brainstorming sessions. It was amazing. I've actually never done anything in person with this particular place that I'm working at, so I don't know if I'll be able to answer that. But it has definitely made virtual things a lot easier to do because otherwise, I'd be stuck doing this chart on Illustrator, which would be a pain.

What needs improvement?

Some parts where the arrows flow tend to flow in a strange direction where you want to drag it to, and it requires a lot of adjusting here and there. It's just the flow of the arrow sometimes gets a little tricky, and then when you move something else, it gets wonky, and then you have to go back and fix it up. That's the only thing that needs improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have only been using Lucidspark aggressively for about a week, but I have been introduced to it for about three weeks, so I've been playing around with it. It is extremely user-friendly. It is one of the most user-friendly tools I've ever used to make a process chart. I've used a lot of other tools before, like MindManager but Lucidspark was really easy to work with. The tools that they have at deciding the shapes, adding arrows, and the fact that you can customize everything was really good.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is pretty good because there were a couple of times where I accidentally, and this was to no fault of the app at all, I accidentally turned off my browser. I sometimes click on the mouse and because of my mouse pad and because my laptop is a touch screen, I would accidentally exit the browser mid-type or while trying to drag an arrow somewhere. And when I open it up, it has automatically saved anything, so I just start off from where I stopped, which is great.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is pretty good. There's definitely room for improvement, but other than that, I think it's really good.

Everyone is based in management positions and giving out rules to their underlings, and technically everyone uses it. It's mostly to identify what your roles are for different processes.

I'm using it quite frequently. For the past week, I've been using it maybe every day, but that's because I've been trying to build a process. There is a possibility that we'll always be creating new processes, there'll always be new projects to work for. I think we'll be using it quite frequently. It really depends on my superiors and what they decide.

How are customer service and technical support?

On a scale where five is the highest, I would rate technical support a 4.5 out of five. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I didn't use another solution before Lucidspark. 

How was the initial setup?

Initially, the setup was very complex, but after watching the videos, actually continuing to use it, studying every inch of it, you're just clicking around, and just running around inside there to see what things mean. It got a lot easier after that.

It took five to six hours.

In terms of the strategy, I had a project to create the process for, and I did, we just went through it one by one. That's where it started to become more user-friendly to me because I started to understand everything more.

What about the implementation team?

We did not use an integrator for the setup.

What other advice do I have?

My advice would be to give it a try, it's actually pretty good. It's really good. It makes things a lot easier.

Watch the tutorials, it helps.

I would rate Lucidspark an 8.5 out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user