Online Collaboration Tools: A Critical Examination: Writeboard Analysis

Collaboration Tool Analysis

Who are they and what do they do?

Writeboard is a collaboration tool created to allow users a way to edit and compare text and share ideas. Those responsible for its creation call themselves 37 Signals, and also created similar tools such as Basecamp, Campfire, and Backpack. This company began in 1998 and came out with the tools Backpack and Writeboard in 2005 due to ever increasing use of the web to communicate with others, such as YouTube. Writeboard is compatible with Internet Explorer 7, Safari, Google Chrome, or Firefox, thus making it widely accessible but not completely foolproof.

Who is this application for?

This tool is mainly for those interested in strictly text based communication. Writeboard is simple because it does not offer a package of goods. If fact, it is an export only tool, meaning that you cannot even upload a paper or text to this cite to share with another user (though copying and pasting the paper into Writeboard is always a viable option). It seems Writeboard is a tool that would effectively be used by anyone looking for editing comments on a piece of writing by multiple users. However, it does not appear to be useful to someone who is looking for a polished piece of work with multiple options for text editing. The company lists ideal users of this product as authors, journalists, bloggers, poets, ect.

What functions and tools can this application perform?

Writeboard allows the user to create text that can be edited by others. It saves all the edited versions of the piece of work, and can compare the changes between two versions. This allows users to track changes and determine what changes they would like to keep. The company suggests numerous ways Writeboard is a useful tool.

Compare different versions of a document
Collaborate with others on work
Be notified of changes
Never worry about overwriting a good idea

The tools available to the users of Writeboard are few and simple. First, users have the option of either editing the text shown on the white board or making comments on that text that show up in a blog fashion underneath the actual piece. Thus allowing the users to edit the document itself, or collaborate and brainstorm before making changes. The second main tool is the ‘compare’ function. This allows the user to take two of the past documents and visually see the changes made between them. In addition, the creators of Writeboard suggest using another free service, Backpack, to keep numerous Whiteboards organized and all under one centralized account.

The text editing options for this tool, for being a text based application, are very rudimentary. There is not a tool bar with editing options, like an average Microsoft word. In fact, to have any type of bolded, italicized, or font changes made to the text, you have to use codes (such as *bold*, to create a bolded text). Though Writeboard provides a formatting guide to make these text editing changes as easy as possible, it is one feature that does not make the cite seem innovative or user-friendly.

How does this application work?

Writeboard is convenient in that it does not require any installation. The user simply enters an email address and password and an URL is assigned for that specific person/writeboard. All text is stored in the cloud unless the user chooses to export the text and save it elsewhere, so the user can access this information from any computer at any time. This application is completely free, and there is no limit to the amount of Writeboards a person can have. However, the organization tool Backpack that is recommended for use with this tool does cost money. This tool is convenient for users who do have multiple Writeboards, because it eliminates the need to have to keep track of multiple URLs and projects. Writeboard allows an unlimited number of invites for others to access your page, simply by entering their email address into the function, with no charge. This makes Writeboard a perfect fee free collaboration tool for both large and small groups working on text projects.

Does this all seem too simple? That is because the makers, 37-Signal, pride themselves on making technology available to users without all the techy terms. The Writeboard website does not advertise specifics like GB and storage space. The product may be simple, but it is definitely easy to use. This tool does not have an unlimited number of tools that would take weeks to explore. The layout of the cite is always the exact same, not to be changed around by user-preference. The only difference between Writeboards is the URL and the text shown on the page. What you see is what you get, and Writeboard gives the user a simple way to collaborate on text projects worry free of editing catastrophes.

Overall rating on 5 important criteria:

Case Study: In October of 2011, myself and a partner each created free accounts through Writeboard with the purpose of testing its suitability based on the criteria below. Ratings are based on a scale of 1-5.

Is it user-friendly?

★★★

Writeboard is very user friendly! Though it only offers text sharing in a very limited way, this is what makes it so easy and simple to use. The coding that is necessary to edit the text in special ways, such as bolded or italicized text, does detract from ease of use slightly. The program does offer a formatting guide, but since most users are use to a Microsoft Word set up, any type of coding could be seen as difficult. Overall, if a user is looking for a non-hassle way to collaborate on text, Writeboard is user-friendly.

Productivity enhancing?

★★

Writeboard would increase productivity only under certain circumstances. The ‘compare’ function is definitely helpful when collaborating on a group paper, and it is easy to comment and make suggested changes. This tool would increase productivity in a group as long as they had other ways to format the final product. Writeboard is not an all-inclusive type of tool, and for group work it would probably be a lot more productive to find a free collaboration tool that allowed text editing/sharing, but also offered other needed functions.

Start-up barriers

★★★★★

There were not any start up barriers for this collaboration tool. It was quick and easy. Just supply an email address, create a user-name and password, and your free account can be immediately activated.

Storage and archive capability

★★★★★

Writeboard stores all changes made to the author’s writing and enables different versions to be compared. It is a perfect example of cloud computing, because nothing is stored by the individual unless they choose to export the Writeboard.

Stability

★★★★★

Writeboard is extremely stable. Since the information is stored in the cloud, it lessens the user’s risk of losing data due to computer malfunctions. As long as the user has access to the internet on the supported web browsers, their data on Writeboard should be available.

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Other reviews and tutorials

1. View what the creators of this tool think

http://37signals.com/

See or hear what the creators of this tool think about their own product.

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