Top 30 design for collaboration tools in 2021
2020 and 2021 has been a game changer in terms of pushing the envelope of how we interact with one another. Whether it be on a personal level or through work, most of us have been affected by COVID-19. Despite the challenges we’ve faced, we’re coming out of it stronger and wiser.
This new shift in work paradigm accelerated by the disruptions in 2020 has meant that a lot of us have had to learn how to work in a remote and/or asynchronous fashion with others. This means upping the game in terms of how we manage work-life balance while being able to work effectively from a distance.
This list takes a look at some of the best design collaboration tools for creative teams. Though geared specifically for designers and the types of tools a designer would use to collaborate with someone like a developer, I’m sure you’ll find that some of these tools could very well apply to your industry as well.
I’ve listed the collaboration tools by category below:
- Visual Feedback Tools
- Communication Tools
- Project Management Tools
- Knowledge Management Tools
- Digital Whiteboard Tools
- Design Tools
- Issue Tracking Tools
- Virtual Office Tools
Visual Feedback Tools
Pagereview
Pagereview is a powerfully simple visual feedback tool for websites. Think of it as today’s digital version of post it notes for your website. You can easily share website feedback in seconds by annotating a website. Always include contextual feedback no matter whether you’re working remotely or in the same room. With Pagereview, you can identify bugs, suggest CSS edits, make copy changes, conduct design reviews, and more without unnecessary back-and-forth.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Usersnap
Usersnap is the enterprise option for serious businesses. Many use it as a central place for all bug reports, feature requests, customer feedback & reviews. With Usersnap’s website feedback tool, you can collect customer feedback using the website itself.
Pricing: Paid plans only
Communication Tools
Zoom
Zoom had a meteoric rise in 2020 as businesses adopted a work from home approach and had to find suitable options for video conferencing. Zoom lets you set up virtual video and audio conferencing with minimal setup required. You can share your screen, set up smaller rooms within a meeting, and more.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Slack
Slack is all about making communication work in an asynchronous fashion. Dedicated chat channels help you and your team stay organized while keeping track of conversations. One of Slack’s gems is actually its extensive list of partner ready integrations that take Slack (and its convenience & efficiency) to a whole new level.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Loom
Loom is an ideal replacement for lengthy emails or unnecessary meetings. It lets you record short videos of your screen and webcam, letting you narrate your thoughts vs penning it out. You can then easily share the video recordings with others through a dedicated URL.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Plutoview
Plutoview is a virtual browser solution meant to make sharing of research and web based collaboration effortless. It’s Google Docs collaboration but for anything web based. The best part is that video sharing isn’t just restricted to one screen. You can have multiple people sharing their screens simultaneously.
Pricing: Paid plans only
Project Management Tools
Asana
Asana makes work organization a breeze. Teams use Asana to track, organize, and manage work. It simplifies team-based collaboration and makes managing work transparent and cohesive. Asana lets you see what everyone is working on in one single place.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Trello
Trello made work boards cool. Teams use Trello to collaborate on projects in task oriented fashion. You can customize your configurations based on your team’s needs. It is simply effective in putting work into perspective while keeping things simple.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Monday
Monday.com calls itself the work operating system (OS). Monday provides teams a way to visually see everything that’s going on all in one place. Plan, track, and organize work without getting lost in the process.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Knowledge Management Tools
Notion
Before Notion became the Notion it is today, it started as a place to organize, write, and plan one’s thoughts. Now, it’s an all in one workspace for all things team related (including team’s of one). At its core, you can use Notion as a team wiki without any of the drawbacks of maintaining an out-of-date site. Simply stick to Notion’s ready to use templates which can turn your tribal knowledge into easy to search for answers.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Slite
Slite lets remote teams easily share ideas, save knowledge, and work together regardless of time and place. One of its key benefits is a clear navigational structure that leaves things easy to find and ordered.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Google Drive
While not necessarily a knowledge management tool per say, Google Drive can be one if you choose to. Google Drive is commonly used as a file repository which you can use to host your knowledge management files. Google Drive lets you store, share, and collaborate on files and folders on any device. Great for distributed teams working on many devices who are already using tools part of the Google ecosystem like Google Docs and Google Sheets.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Dropbox
Dropbox provides a safe and secure option to store files on the cloud. With Dropbox, you are able to collaborate with your teammates from any device. Similar to Google Drive, Dropbox can also act as a knowledge management hub where you store all necessary files and knowledge artifacts. You can even link a folder on your device to continuously store and sync without worrying about losing anything in the process.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Digital Whiteboard Tools
Miro
Miro brings the physical whiteboard online. It’s an online collaborative whiteboard platform for teams to get together and work on things at the same time. Use Miro to run brainstorming sessions without running into the physical limitations of needing to be in the same space and limited by pens and markers.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Lucidspark
Lucidspark is a virtual whiteboard tool that’s no stranger to helping teams bring ideas to life. You can use Lucidspark to brainstorm and collaborate with one another in a visual workspace. With Lucidspark, you can organize your notes and scribbles, turning them into presentation worthy concepts to hash them out with your colleagues without losing sight of the larger picture.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Metro Retro
Metro Retro is a great tool to run fun and engaging retrospectives with your team. It’s a fun take on the classic paper based retrospective while keeping all the perks of being a digital tool for remote participants.
Pricing: Free plans available
Design Tools
Invision Studio
Invision Studio is Invision’s answer to Figma’s rapid rise in the space. With Invision Studio, you are able to design, protype, and animate all in one place, a disjointed experience for those used to prior Invision products. It has a default dark UI that is certainly helpful in driving focus in the later hours of the day.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Figma
Figma is more than just an interface design tool. It is becoming the defacto design tool that teams use to design products from start to end. Being built for the web, Figma works on any OS or device. You can do rapid prototyping, UI & UX design, design system documentation, design version control, dev handoff and more without ever needing another tool.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Adobe XD
Adobe XD makes UI/UX design and collaboration smooth. Part of the larger Adobe ecosystem of tools and products, you can easily use XD to create great designs with the full support of the other Adobe stack. One great benefit to XD is its extensive font library and ability to be used offline.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Canva
Canva is a great tool for individuals and teams wanting a robust graphic design tool that’s easy to use. You can use it to create class yearbook designs, social media graphics, presentations, logos, documents, posters and other visual content.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Issue Tracking Tools
Github Issues
Github has its own solution when it comes to tracking bugs. Aptly named Github Issues, it’s a logical solution to those already using Github for their work. Given that developers are the ones most likely to be using Github, using their preferred tool that has an integrated solution built-in to handle issue tracking doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Linear
Linear is a great option issue tracking for those from a product focused background. Designed for software product teams, adding issues feels seamless as opposed to a chore. One great benefit to Linear is that it’s available offline, meaning, being able to work even if internet drops on you while remote!
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Jira
Jira is the enterprise favorite for issue tracking, primarily because it’s one of the OGs of the scene. What makes JIRA great is that it’s an incredible stable tool and with its long history in existence (in tech years), you can integrate it into almost any tool you need.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Bugherd
Bugherd is an issue tracking tool meant for the visual person. Capturing bugs with Bugherd is like adding sticky notes to a website. Bugherd also includes the technical device information of the commenter with each comment. Pretty useful if you ask me.
Pricing: Paid plans available
Virtual Office Tools
Knock
For those of us who have missed the office, you’re in luck if you haven’t heard of virtual offices. Knock HQ brings the best of physical offices into the digital space without any of its impediments. Imagine a completely distributed team worldwide, being able to have chance encounters as if they were in person.
Pricing: Free plan available
oVice
oVice takes the concept of virtual offices a step further. Not only are you able to create offices as you desire, you can also replicate other venues virtually. Imagine your own concert hall for your team or a completely private online resort for everyone to work from. Virtually of course.
Pricing: Paid plans available
Wurkr
Wurkr is a virtual conferencing tool with a built in virtual office environment. Simply hop onto a call through Wurkr directly when you’re in the same virtual space instead of needing to use a different tool, preventing an unconscious disconnect in the entire remote work experience.
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Team Activity Tools
Trivia
Trivia is a simple way to bring some fun to a team separated by distance. There are four different trivia game modes available which keeps things interesting in very gamified sense of things. Trivia is used outside of just team activities, being used in education by remote teachers and students. Maybe give it a try for your next onboarding team member. It could be fun.
Pricing: Paid plans available
Kahoot
Kahoot is a great tool to launch some learning games or trivia quizzes in minutes. Perfect for the busy team still trying to have some fun. Joining a Kahoot is as easy as entering a PIN into the dedicated URL. No extra account creations necessary!
Pricing: Paid plans available
Acadly
Acadly is a great tool to make team meetings interactive and engaging. Although designed primarily for live classes, it’s a great tool nonetheless to use for those team events which require participation without any hassles. What’s great is that it has an integration with Zoom!
Pricing: Free & Paid plans available
Summary
Adapting to changes in the work environment requires innovative solutions that enable us to achieve more together without compromising on quality. Whether you’re a designer, developer, executive, intern, or marketer, we will have to get familiar with some aspects of remote or asynchronous work. The right tools can help us in our journey. For me, being remote doesn’t mean having to give up the community aspect that comes from working together to achieve greater things as one.
