Mural • Lead Product Designer • 3 months
Overview
When I joined the canvas collaboration team, we were focused on finding ways to increase meaningful engagement on the canvas. Our customers on R&D teams were spread across time zones, and something was clearly missing from their brainstorming and feedback sessions. After digging in, we found that the problem was pretty simple: sticky notes were great for capturing ideas, but there was no fast way to respond to them without typing a whole comment.
The problem
- No way to give quick, non-verbal feedback on ideas
- Discussions lacked emotional context and tone
- Remote teams felt disengaged during sessions
- Decision-making slowed by back-and-forth commentary
The solution
A lightweight reactions feature directly on sticky notes, letting team members express instant, visual feedback with thumbs up, hearts, and other emoji responses, right in the moment without breaking their flow.
The sticky note in action.
How we rolled it out
Phase 1
Internal beta + soft launch. We started with an internal release so the team could explore the feature and surface issues before customers saw it. We ironed out several kinks and then rolled it to a wider audience as a soft launch.
Phase 2
Iterating on access and clarity. After analyzing usage data and comparing competitor approaches, we simplified the UI, improved contrast, and introduced a quick-access reaction bar highlighting the most commonly used emoji to speed things up.
What happened
- Engagement tripled. Week-over-week engagement went up 3x right after launch. Teams were excited to see reactions in real time.
“It feels like we’re in the same room again.” Sarah, senior designer - Faster Decisions: When ideas clustered with thumbs-ups or hearts, it became much easier to gauge team direction without long comment threads.
- Stronger Connections: People could see how others were responding to their ideas in the moment, which made them feel more heard and motivated.
“It made me feel like my voice was being heard.”John, junior designer - Better Emotional Tone: Reactions gave a quick read on team sentiment, making it easier to steer sessions empathetically and keep the vibe collaborative.
