Miro Visualization

Visualising Miro’s 2023 Product Updates

miro board design of an open faced office building with many rooms containing workshop exercises designed by Miro expert Lucie Agolini

Executive Summary

Mission

The What’s New team at Miro wanted a special Miro board design that would visually summarise the 100+ product updates from 2023.

The board should be delightful, and take users on a journey to discover all the latest improvements alongside signposts to further information.

Highlights

  • A tight delivery timeframe meant everyone involved had to contribute at pace without room for rework. It was intense - but also awesome!
  • Keeping the team continually updated on the board design meant I could reroute any areas needing changes sooner rather than later.
  • Builds of this size require patience and experience to optimise board performance. A nice challenge!

Outcome

  • A huge success! 100+ feature cards housed in their own neighbourhoods of a vibrant mini Miro world.
  • We finished with time to spare, all in awe of what we’d made in such a short time span.
  • The launch was exceptionally well received by the team and the public - see some of the comments at the bottom of this page.
  • “My favourite moment was offline yesterday when an Engineer from one of my teams said how proud it made her feel.”

Video walk-through

For those who prefer to watch than read, I recorded a 5 minute walk-through of the design process and final workshop template in Miro.

Watch the demo
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Tiled workshop exercises from different rooms with different purposes

About the Project

About

The What’s New team at Miro focuses on educating and engaging users on new product features through compelling stories.

Kristin Leitch and Luna Bernfest  had seen my work on the Distributed ‘23 Event Guide, and created a vision to translate Miro's product updates of 2023 into a visual adventure and celebration.

Not just as a celebration for Miro users, but also to visually recognise the hard work of their product teams (👏👏👏).

Project Credits

Many people contributed to this project overall. Here are the core team who worked directly on the board design.

Before

Miro board design process stage 1 starting samples of the building with the rest empty

After

Objectives

01.

Educate and engage super users

Encourage super users and advocates to go on an exploratory  journey to learn about new features.

    01.

    Demonstrate product velocity

    Visualise the momentum and volume of product updates that have been made throughout the year.

      01.

      Innovation themed and delightful

      The board should visually emphasise the innovation happening under the hood of Miro, stylistically translating into a delightful experience.

        01.

        Highlight the community driven nature of the updates

        Miro community contributors should feel like their voices have been listened to through clear call-outs on community driven improvements.

          01.

          Prominent main updates without losing sight of the smaller wins

          It was important to emphasise the big releases of the year, but to also acknowledge the many smaller updates that create the big picture.

            01.

            Should work at two zoom levels

            Both birds-eye view and the closest zoom level should communicate the appropriate information needed to navigate and understand the content.

              Design Process

              Design Discovery

              With tight timelines, the Design Discovery laser focused on the needs and desires from the client. I combined this with gathering their feedback on top level concepts and stylistic direction.

              Key topics:

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              Clarity on project goals and the ‘Why’s

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              Deep understanding of client needs & desires

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              Quantitative success metrics

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              Overall style and top-level concepts

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              Timelines and responsibilities

              A Design discovery workshop template using familiar desk objects around the workshop exercises designed by Miro expert Lucie Agolini

              Concepts & Wireframes

              Of the three concepts proposed, the group opted for the direction of an interconnected world.

              This intertwined world would visualise the idea that product development is all about smaller connected teams working together on a bigger picture.

              I then went on to

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              Block out potential layouts

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              Define themes for each area

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              Ideate visual metaphors and representations for each of the features

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              Create high-fidelity wireframes of the design

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              Continually update the team and gather feedback as I completed the design and build phases

              Wireframe of a building architecture with visual moodboard references and annotations on MiroWireframe of a building architecture with visual moodboard references and annotations on Miro
              Wireframe of a coffee corner containing workshop exercise instructions
              Wireframe of the Miro reception with the meeting monster, qr code and stairs eitherside
              Wireframe of a briefing room with chairs around a meeting table and sticky notes
              Wireframe of an art gallery with curtains obscuring some picture frames
              Wireframe of an avatar builder workshop exercise with heads on podiums and accessories on the wall
              Wireframe of the Miro swag store with selectable items on the wall and shopping baskets on the floor
              Vertical wireframe of the Miro building with placeholder names and objects for concept content
              Vertical wireframe of an open faced building architecture for the Miro Amsterdam building Stadhouderskade
              Horizontal wireframe of an open faced building architecture for the Miro Amsterdam building Stadhouderskade
              Architecture Wireframe with moodboard image references on a Miro board

              The Final Design

              A mini Miro world with clearly defined neighbourhoods ready to guide you on an informative and enjoyable journey.

              Close up of the Miro reception with the meeting monster and workshop welcomeA large atrium containing the Miro reception on a Miro board with the meeting monster behind the reception desk and client branded welcome banners and information designed by Miro expert Lucie AgoliniA large atrium containing the Miro reception on a Miro board with the meeting monster behind the reception desk and client branded welcome banners and information designed by Miro expert Lucie AgoliniA large atrium containing the Miro reception on a Miro board with the meeting monster behind the reception desk and client branded welcome banners and information designed by Miro expert Lucie Agolini

              A celebratory board that guides and delights

              Combining the familiar with the novel, this detailed city welcomes and guides you from the moment you enter the board.

              Curtains hide workshop exercisesRevealing workshop content on the Miro board by removing the brick facadesHide and reveal content on the Miro board with brick facades covering most of the rooms in the Miro building in Amsterdam

              Understanding at all zoom levels

              Through colour categorisation and clear content hierarchy, viewers immediately understand what’s inside each neighbourhood.

              A visual agenda room with stylish chairs around a meeting table and a workshop agenda and whiteboard on the wallA visual agenda room with stylish chairs around a meeting table and a workshop agenda and whiteboard on the wallA Miro branded meeting room with the Miro logo, a flat screen TV and whiteboards on the wall for the workshop exercises and interactive presentationsA Miro meeting room with chairs around a table and technical layout maps on the wall

              Playful visualisations that encourage discovery

              Each neighbourhood has its own theme, and each feature has it’s own visual representation. The combination of the two results in a highly detailed board full of personality.

              An avatar creator with heads and accessories on the wall, with podiums underneath for the workshop participants to make their own character on the Miro boardMiro games templates in the Games cornerThe Miro swag store visually represented on a Miro board with moveable swag items that go into baskets for each participant designed by Miro expert Lucie Agolini

              Demonstrating product velocity

              Each neighbourhood is packed full of new features through well balanced visuals where it neither feels too busy, nor too spacious.

              The virtual spa room on the Miro template with links to mindful workshop activitiesA virtual spa area on the Miro board with plants hanging from the walls over two sinks with instructions for the workshop activityA cafe on a Miro board with a games corner for interactive fun, a reading library with book recommendations and an art gallery with stand out miro templates on display along the walls designed by Miro expert Lucie Agolini

              Educate and engage super users

              Each feature card had artfully succinct yet descriptive copy from Shefali Rao, and for some there were beautifully crafted animated gifs to illustrate the update.

              Users were given the option to click a link to find more details on the Miro site.

              The virtual spa room on the Miro template with links to mindful workshop activitiesThe virtual spa room on the Miro template with links to mindful workshop activitiesA virtual spa area on the Miro board with plants hanging from the walls over two sinks with instructions for the workshop activityA cafe on a Miro board with a games corner for interactive fun, a reading library with book recommendations and an art gallery with stand out miro templates on display along the walls designed by Miro expert Lucie Agolini

              Balancing the small and big wins

              The design purposefully gave height and volume to the main updates, whilst allowing the smaller ones to spread freely in the flat surrounding spaces.

              This resulted in a natural and hierarchically understandable environment.

              Feedback

              My Learnings

              This project was a creative and collaborative dream. I couldn't have asked for better sparring partners than Amanda, Sid and Shayne, and I couldn't have worked on a more satisfying mix of visual design and valuable content.

              That said, we learn something new each project, and my learnings are as follows.

              Advocate for modules and easy repurposing
              It may not be part of the brief, but you can bet repurposing is a future requirement. Build in modules from the start to give as much autonomy to the board owner as possible.

              Larger room names and sequence numbers
              Embarrassingly basic, but not everyone browses at the zoom level I designed for. You should be able to understand content from all levels.

              Use chat GPT to aid brainstorming
              Fast track ideation and validate from audience perspectives using AI (in combination with own contributions)

              Use Midjourney to create furniture
              Now that I've established proficiency in Midjourney prompting, I would create specific imagery in a cohesive style without cost or license limitations.

              Less is more
              I've now worked on enough large projects to know that that our appetite is often bigger than our bellies when it comes to the number of visual areas requested in the original brief.

              My future approach to a project requesting 24 exercise areas would be that we either create a quality wireframe prototype to test with real participants before the design phase, or to design ~12 areas and gather feedback before creating more.

              In this instance, a purposefully modular approach from the outset would have been beneficial, and accommodated the need for any change of order, and creating different environments for shorter versus longer workshop durations.

              Want to have your own mini Miro world?

              What if Powerpoints were replaced with energetic journeys?

              What if product updates and company documentation didn't lie inside text boxes on webpages, but rather inside worlds that surprise and delight?

              If you'd like to showcase your business in a unique format that your audience loves, it'd be my pleasure to see where we could take your idea and your brand.

              Impress customers and prospects through visual environments that communicate important information

              Onboard new joiners with explorable visualisations of your organisation

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              Present information in a unique and memorable format

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              Collaborative spaces where your can co-create and play in style

              Option 1: Tailor Made

              Reach out to discuss a custom design made specifically for your organisation and requirements.

              Book an intro call

              Option 2: Build your own

              Sign up to my mailing list and be the first to hear about the build-your-own templates I'm currently producing.

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              Tiled visual workshop exercises with the Miro logo designed by Miro expert Lucie Agolini

              What’s next?

              Got a juicy project up your sleeves? Wonderful!

              I'd love to hear more about what you do and what you're thinking.

              Book a Project Intro Call
              Learn more about my process
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