The collaboration tool Miro* can do much more than just brainstorming. In this test and review, you’ll learn a lot about this online whiteboard and when it makes sense to use the software. We’ll also take a look at its compliance with data protection regulations under the GDPR.
The Miro Tool – What is an online whiteboard anyway?
The online whiteboard is basically the digital version of a whiteboard or pinboard in the office. The whiteboard is a simple means to transparently work on tasks in a meeting or workshop with the team. The advantages of the digital version are obvious:
- Available remotely
In today’s world of distributed teams and remote work, it’s becoming difficult to always get all meeting participants around a table or in a room. This is where online whiteboards make things much easier. - More Features
A tool like Miro offers far more than an offline whiteboard can. For example, it allows you to work with templates, integrate external files, and connect the tool to existing services such as Slack, Jira, and MS Teams via integrations. With this storage feature, there’s also no need for the tedious task of photographing meeting results.
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Miro Review – Overview of functions
There are the basic functions of a digital whiteboard:
- Unlimited board space
This allows you to continuously expand the board and add new content. - Post-its, text boxes, graphics, and frames
These design elements give you complete creative freedom. - Collaboration in Teams
This is arguably the most important feature of the Miro collaboration tool. Similar to Google Sheets and Documents, you can work on a whiteboard with multiple team members. And most importantly, you can always see in real time who is doing what, allowing you to achieve the best results during meetings. - Templates and templates
Miro Tool* offers a wide variety of templates. In the image above, you can see a mind map and a simple fishbone diagram. More information about the templates is provided below. - External Integrations
As an online whiteboard, Miro offers many other integrations with external services. For example, if you use Slack for communication, you can easily integrate the chat.
Various Miro Tool applications and experiences
Predefined templates for different applications
To make the threshold for your first meeting as low as possible, there are already many templates you can use. This means you don’t have to start structuring in the meeting. Here are a few examples:
- Mind Map
- Flow Chart
- Customer Journey
- Kanban
- Product Roadmap
- Retrospective
- Process mapping
- You can create your own templates in advance
Is Miro suitable as a project management tool?
To answer this question, you should ask yourself what criteria you have for a project management tool. Of course, you can use Miro for project management* during workshops. You can also set up a simple Kanban board in Miro—just as you would offline. This allows you to effectively track smaller or shorter projects and make them transparent.
Overall, however, you lack the capabilities needed for larger projects that a robust project management software provides. Resource planning, cost control, project planning, and even time tracking. That said, Miro is a solid addition for achieving good results in workshops, even in today’s modern and decentralized work environment.
Miro in use for online training with REUTER management training
REUTER Management Training is regarded as one of the leading training and consulting firms in project management and is a partner of the German Association for Project Management (DGP). A case study on the use of Miro:
Since 1994, all project management training, coaching and consulting services provided by REUTER management training have been conducted in classroom form. Due to the impact of the Corona crisis, the company had to switch to an online-based training option within a very short time. In the course of this, the miro board became the leading tool for the successful handling of training courses at REUTER management training.
miro is used as a core tool for communication in the course, for didactic presentation of the course content and for interaction with the participants. The initial skepticism of the online conversion quickly evaporated when it became clear that through the multi-layered functions of this tool, both the didactics of the course concept can be implemented and the so important interaction with and among the participants can be easily adopted in a playful manner.
It does not matter where the participants are currently locatedand with which device, whether notebook, tablet or smartphone they are logged in. In addition, the miro board also stands out as a very resource-saving and thus data-stable tool, which in turn made it the winner at REUTER in comparison with other tools.
Miro in use at online workshops by Gerstbach Design Thinking
Ingrid and Peter Gerstbach specialize in Design Thinking, a method for innovation and problem-solving. In their report, they briefly describe their experience with how Miro helps them in their online workshops.
Normally, Design Thinking workshops take place in rooms with plenty of space, writable walls and mobile tables, and are characterized above all by a high degree of interactivity. But design thinking can also be experienced in the context of online workshops, for which it requires not only cameras and microphones for the participants, but also a collaborative whiteboard like Miro. Everything that is normally documented on flipcharts and walls with pen and sticky notes can be done in the online world with Miro:
- The experiences from conversations in the “empathy” phase can be recorded with sticky notes as so-called insights or templates for “personas” and “customer journeys” can be used.
- In the “Define” phase these insights are clustered, for this purpose there are also Miro templates, such as for a “2×2 Matrix”.
- For creativity methods of the “idea generation” phase there are further templates e.g. for collaborative brainwriting.
- Miro can also be used when prototyping in the “experiment” phase, for example for GUI prototypes or storyboards.
Design Thinking workshops with Miro are quite different from workshops in our Design Thinking Space (local in Vienna), but especially when participants are spread all over the worldor travel is not possible for other reasons, Miro is a perfect tool for a successful Design Thinking online workshop.
Miro Tool* in scientific use at the university
How can Miro be used at the university? Here you need to distinguish between teaching and research.
- The use in lectures, tutorials or applied exercises is clearly given as well as in online trainings or in design thinking – Miro then represents a collaboration platform.
- If you would like to use the Miro tool for your research work, the advantage lies mainly in the possibilities of the whiteboard. You can display all your thoughts, plans on the infinite whiteboard. And if you want to consider results from studies, measurements, you can include them in the form of graphs, office documents or photos.
The framework for using the Miro Whiteboarding Tool
Miro test of data protection or compliance with the GDPR
What about Miro Tool with GDPR? As cloud-hosted software, you have no way to install Miro on your own server. In return, you have correspondingly less effort with the administration. Miro puts security first and offers different levels of security for your data depending on the tariff model.
A few years ago, the GDPR-compliant use wasn’t quite so easy with Miro (see Miro Community Question). At that time, Miro did offer data storage on servers in Europe, but backups were stored on servers in the U.S., and a European alternative was only available starting at the Enterprise tier.
And now for the good news:
Miro has followed suit and now offers data storage (located in Ireland) including a backup (located in Frankfurt) within the EU for all plans; a transfer to the U.S. can only be requested as an exception. You can find more details on this in the information from Miro*. According to Miro, this means the service can finally be used in compliance with the GDPR.
Miro Tool with external integrations
The major advantage over a standard whiteboard or locally hosted digital whiteboard is the wide range of external integrations in Miro* that you can use. So if you’re already using other online tools, it makes sense to try them out directly while testing Miro. Here’s a small selection of the most important integrations:
Collaboration
- Microsoft Teams
- Slack App
- Video Chat by Miro
Miro as a design tool
- Invision
- Sketch
Documentation
- Google Drive
- Dropbox
- OneDrive
Further
- Microsoft Excel
- Google Sheets
Project Management Software
- Jira
- Trello
- Asana
Miro Tool tariffs and prices
The prices for the use of Miro* are very different as far as the various tariffs are concerned.
Free
To get you started, you can try Miro for free for standalone use.
Starter
The online whiteboard is also just starting to make sense for your team’s collaboration. You can even already access integrations from Jira, Trello, and Asana.
Business
With the Business plan, you have access to the full range of features. With single sign-on and external temporary editors, you should be able to collaborate with clients as well.
Enterprise
For plans with 30 or more users and in the Enterprise tier, you negotiate the pricing directly with Miro. With these plans, you can expect advanced integrations, enhanced security, backups on servers in Europe, and premium support from Miro.
The Miro Tool prices at a glance
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| Miro | 1 User | 5 User | 25 User | 75 User |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free* | 0$ | 0$ | 0$ | 0$ |
| Starter (1 User+)* | 96$ | 480$ | 2.400$ | 7.200$ |
| Business (1 User+)* | 192$ | 960$ | 4.800$ | 14.400$ |
| Enterprise (30 User+)* | on demand | on demand | on demand | on demand |
Pricing for Projectmanagement Software Miro Online-Whiteboard per Year - in US-Dollar (pm-tools.info, March 2024, * = Affiliate Link)
Languages
Miro now offers several languages, including German. However, given how intuitive the software is to use for collaboration, the language is likely irrelevant to many employees.
Your opinion about Miro Tool and the future of creative workshops
Loading ...Evaluation of Miro Tool as an online whiteboard
The Miro Review presents the tool as a valuable addition to your collaboration portfolio. This collaboration tool goes far beyond simple mind-mapping software, offering a wide range of Miro applications. Not only can you successfully lead online workshops, but you can even go so far as to handle project management—at least in part—in Miro as a project management tool*.
The new policy of using servers within Europe eliminates one of Miro’s biggest disadvantages compared to its competitors. While you may still need to consult with your data protection officer in larger companies, they should not be able to directly stand in your way.
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Miro alternatives in review
- The article on brainstorming softwarementions a few tools if you just need a simple mindmap
- MindMeister offers besides brainstorming a few more possibilities and can be linked well with MeisterTask– Direct to the vendor*.
- One possible alternative for the software development and design industries is Moqups*. In addition to the online whiteboard, it offers a wireframe tool, a flowchart tool, and the ability to draw UML diagrams.
Change History for the Miro Review
| Date | Updates |
| 26.03.2024 | Update following another brief review: – updated prices – data is now stored on local servers within the EU |
| 23.10.2020 | Publication of Initial Review |
Looking for the right tool? Compare Miro with alternatives in our overview of project management tools, or browse our list of 106 PM tools.
* = Affiliate Links
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