Learn about the Miro collaborative whiteboard software tool and find tutorials to use it here.

With more work being done remotely, it’s more important than ever for teams to be able to successfully communicate and collaborate together. Thankfully, there are many amazing collaboration, task management, communication, and more software tools out there that can make this easy to accomplish. One such tool is Miro, who we feature on our design thinking software guide. Miro (pronounced like “Hero”) is a digital “whiteboard” platform that can make it easy to brainstorm and collaborate with members of your team or innovation program. In this post, we’ll provide a brief introduction to this tool and provide some tutorials you can use to successfully implement the tool in your own workflow processes. Miro is a popular whiteboard tool that you may have heard of similar to Lucidspark or Mural.

What is Miro?

Miro (previously known as RealtimeBoard) brands itself as a digital whiteboard that makes it easy to collaborate with others. The software allows you to create notes and designs, move things around, and communicate through embedded video calls or online chats. The tool also comes with a series of pre-built templates that can inspire or serve as a starting place for your own project work. We like to use the online whiteboarding tool and applying Miro when leading real-time remote design thinking workshops. Some common uses of Miro include:

Image Courtesy of Miro

Another important feature to note is its app integrations and connections. Miro can connect to some other common virtual worksing tools, such as Google Drive, Slack, Asana, Trello, and SurveyMonkey. We also like to use Miro as a part of video meeting tools like Hopin or Whereby where you can share your Miro board (like you would your screen) and participants can add to the Miro board without opening a new browser tab.

My favorite reason to use Miro (vs. other great whiteboard tools out there) is their template library that can help you instantly innovate your next meeting, workshop, course or session by giving you activities or a structure to facilitate. Here’s our video about that where we demonstrate using the Miro templates.

How to Use Miro

Miro Training Resources for Collaboration and Innovation Work

If you’d like to implement this tool into your own collaboration and virtual projects, you may be unsure just how to get started. The following resources can teach you how to effectively use this software tool.

1. Miro Support & Help Center

One of the easiest ways to learn about the software tool and find help is through their own support & help center. There, you can find written guides to common questions and situations that users may be interested in learning more about.

2. Miro YouTube Tutorial Series

Miro’s YouTube channel also offers a tutorial series to help new users get started with their tool. Below, we’ve embedded the four lessons within this series. You can also see the collection of over 25 favorite Miro Tutorial Videos on University Webinars.

1. Getting Started

2. Collaboration

3. Navigation

4. Organization

3. Service Design Show: Using Miro to Create Customer Journey Map

This 2-part YouTube tutorial covers how to create customer journey maps with Miro, and when the tool may be the right option for you.

Part One

Part Two

4. Keep Productive: Mind-Mapping with Miro

This YouTube video focuses on using Miro to develop simple and complex mind maps.

5. Miro Templates

Miro’s website also offers a template library for inspiration on setting up Miro for your own innovation team, workshop, class, or project. Their library includes templates on everything from strategy to ideation and marketing, so you will likely find something that suits your own needs, or is close enough to get you started.

We also have a series of articles on our blog which includes popular templates for some of the most important innovation and design thinking activities, including:

Miro Smart Meetings

Miro recently launched beta access for Smart Meetings. This new functionality allows for teams using their Miro board to turn it into an interactive presentation easily and in the moment. Learn more about the new feature on our blog. 


What is Miro Conclusion

Miro is one of the fastest growing software tools due to the major shift to remote work catalyzed by the COVID pandemic. It really can make your meetings or workshops more visual, collaborative, and engaging. Try it out for yourself in your next Zoom workshop. We recommend this article to learn more about doing design thinking virtually with remote teams. For more innovation and design thinking resources, continue to our blog. Do you need help creating or designing your own innovation project or program? Reach out to us today for customized support. We can even design and facilitate a workshop or retreat with Miro or help you to become a realtime collaborative whiteboard facilitator.