Join Team draw.io as we explore the world of diagramming through the lens of a fantastic adventure story. Over the coming months this serialized tale of mystery will be posted bi-weekly, and we hope you find it a fun way to absorb diagramming inspiration. Let’s dive into the story:
It’s an unseasonably cold day in Austin, Texas, and a cool breeze is blowing outside the offices of Inatech, a game developer famous for the “Planet of Battlecraft” titles. Up on the 14th floor, four team members are gathered together for their least favorite task of the week – their regular status update meeting with their project manager. Little do they know that what seems like a regular 9-5 workday will soon become a struggle for life or death.
Double latte in hand, Product Marketing Manager Caroline strides into the meeting room, finding herself listening to yet another argument; Project Manager, Bill, is once again sparring with Lead Software Engineer, Pauline. Sitting down in her usual spot at the table, she shares a knowingly glance with her already-seated teammates, Product Manager Angie and Agile Coach Marcus. It’s clear it will be ‘another one of those’ meetings.
“I’m just saying, Bill, we can be more efficient in these meetings if we used a digital whiteboard. We could collaborate better, keep track of ideas better, and if someone was away they could still contribute remotely.” sighs a frustrated Pauline. She’s got her laptop open to a Confluence page, where she’s showing off a retrospective whiteboard.
Bill holds up his hands, “oooh, yeah, well I’m not considering a new tool right now. If we could, uh, go ahead and stick with our normal tool, e-Plan2000, that’d be great.”
“That’s the brilliant part!” says Pauline. “There are already whiteboards built into our diagramming product. We don’t need another tool!”
Shaking his head, and pushing his glasses back up his nose, Bill says “yeah, I’m going to have to ask you to use e-Plan2000. And I see Caroline is here, so we can get started, m’kay?”
Bill turns towards his flip chart, and the room can see he has prepared nearly 30 charts. Caroline looks down at the cup in her hand, silently cursing that she didn’t go for a triple latte.
Just then, the lights in the room start to flicker. Slowly, the team becomes aware of a dull rumbling sound, and it’s building in volume. Before long, the blinds are rattling in the windows, and dust is falling from ceiling. The floor itself begins to vibrate, and soon the team is having problems even standing up. “Earthquake!” someone yells. A brilliant flash fills the room! Suddenly, a blinding rainbow of colours bursts out from the center of the conference room table. As though grabbed by an invisible hand, a mysterious force pulls Caroline, Marcus, Angie and Pauline towards the portal, and in an instant they find themselves materialized onto a cold stone floor.
Acrid smoke hangs in the air. Disoriented, Caroline blinks her eyes a few times to clear her head, and soon she perceives a murmur of voices around them. A hand reaches down, offering to pull Caroline to her feet, and when she rises up she sees an elderly man dressed in a long luxurious robe, a golden crown perched on his head. Behind him rises an ornate throne, flanked by what looks like the most dedicated Robin Hood cosplayers she’s ever seen. As she comes to her sense, she hears Marcus’ familiar voice behind her say “uh, guys…why am I so small?”.
Caroline turns to see an amazing sight – her three co-workers are human beings no longer. Somehow, Pauline has the long pointy ears of an elf, Marcus is a short and bearded dwarf, and, shockingly, Angie is now some kind of humanoid cat. For herself, she is shocked to find her previously unimposing frame is now rippling with muscles.
It’s all too much. As her team members begin to panic, Caroline feels her own fear begin to rise up in her throat. Is it a dream? A nightmare?
The presumed King claps his hands loudly, then raises them to calm things down. “Please, Caroline, Pauline, Marcus, and Angie, be at peace. You are safe here, and the disorientation of your journey should abate soon. I can explain everything.”
Breathing heavily, the team turns their attention to the wizened old man.
“I am King Gaudenz the Elder, and I welcome you to my home. I apologize for your traumatic journey, and that you were taken without permission, but circumstances do not permit me the usual pleasantries.” The king leans in close, his eyes growing sad. “You see, I had no choice because the very lives of my people are at stake. There is a darkness on the horizon, one that I can no longer battle alone. And the only thing standing in its way…is you.”
This week’s diagramming inspiration
No one likes painful meetings. Using digital whiteboards, like those inside draw.io, help keep meetings on track, and your team more productive. As Pauline mentions in our story, a side benefit to draw.io’s whiteboards is that remote team members can easily contribute at the same time as those working in a physical office.
Want to power-up your next meeting with a draw.io Whiteboard? You can try draw.io for Confluence or Jira free for 30 days, just visit the Atlassian Marketplace to start your evaluation.
Need more inspiration? Check out these resources:
- Blog – How to Collaborate with draw.io’s Whiteboards
- Blog – Use the draw.io Board Macro in Agile and Scrum meetings
- Video – How to use whiteboards in draw.io
- draw.io Whitebaords Landing Page: https://drawio-app.com/draw-io-whiteboard/
Do you like to dive deeper into the world of draw.io? Access our linktr.ee page to follow us on Social media and learn how others use draw.io and hopefully pick up some tips and tricks.
You don’t use draw.io yet? Convince yourself and start your free 30-day evaluation today. Or book a free no-obligation demo with our customer success team to learn more about how draw.io can make life easier and more productive for you and everyone in (and outside of) your company!
Happy diagramming!
Last Updated on August 1, 2023 by Admin