Introducing Custom Whiteboard Templates

Create custom templates in Aha! software.

August 2, 2023

Introducing Custom Whiteboard Templates

by Claire George

Editor's note: Aha! Notebooks has been split into Aha! Knowledge and Aha! Whiteboards.

Everybody loves a template, right? The benefits are obvious. Having a predefined format makes it easier for teams to get work done consistently and efficiently — especially when you are creating important documents. This is why Aha! software includes an abundance of note and whiteboard templates for all aspects of your product management work. Today's launch introduces powerful new options to build your own templates.

Create your very own whiteboard templates in Aha! software and quickly turn existing notes and whiteboards into templates, too.

If you use Aha! Roadmaps, Aha! Ideas, or Aha! Develop, then you may know that you can already create your own note templates. With today's launch, we are providing the same level of customization for whiteboard templates, too. We also added the ability to create custom note and whiteboard templates in the Aha! Notebooks Advanced plan. This empowers you to format documents exactly the way you want and share them across teams — so you can streamline how work gets done.

To build a new template from scratch, go to Document templates in your workspace-line or individual workspace settings, and select whether you want to add a new note or whiteboard template. Once you create the template, your team can find it in the Custom section of the template library. (Note that you must be a workspace owner to create custom document templates.)

While we were at it, we also made it possible to create a template from an existing whiteboard or note. This option is especially useful if you need to modify one of the 50+ guided templates in the library, or if you find yourself repeatedly copying the same document for the team to use again and again. Simply click the More options menu in the top right of your document and select Save as template. Any to-dos and watchers on the document will be saved with the template for greater visibility and efficiency.

Let's take a closer look at how you can benefit from custom templates:

Create and save whiteboard designs

Imagine you are getting the team together to discuss a recent challenge. You design your own "5 whys" framework to help focus the discussion. The team finds the approach super helpful in getting to the root cause of the situation and coming up with a solution. Success! So you save the whiteboard as a template for future use. (In fact, we are also going to add this template to the default library for everyone to use!)

Create a template at the highest level of your workspace hierarchy so it can be shared across underlying workspaces.

Standardize your notes

Turn the notes you regularly use into a template. Say you are preparing for your weekly product team meeting. In the example below, we started with the default meeting agenda template and modified it over time to include additional details such as progress made against the roadmap and product usage data.

Rather than copying the same note each week, we saved it as a custom template. Having the to-dos and watchers as part of the template makes it easy to get input from teammates and notify them of updates — saving even more time.

Embed live Aha! views like reports and roadmaps directly into note templates, so everyone has the right information on hand.

Embed live Aha! views like reports and roadmaps directly into note templates, so everyone has the right information on hand.

Quickly capture information in a consistent way — so you can spend less time formatting documents and more time focusing on the actual content.

Templates allow you to concentrate on delivering greater customer value. Between our guided templates library and the ability to now create your own custom templates, the team can quickly access the perfect note or whiteboard for every situation. What will you be able to accomplish?

Start a free trial today

Custom templates are included in all Aha! products. Our suite of product development tools works seamlessly together to help teams turn raw concepts into valuable new capabilities — for customers and the business. Set strategy, crowdsource ideas, spark creativity, prioritize features, share roadmaps, manage releases, and plan development. Sign up for a free 30-day trial or join a live demo to see why more than 700,000 product builders trust our software to build lovable products and be happy doing it.

Claire George

Claire George

Claire is passionate about helping product development teams learn how to bring their strategy to life. She is the director of product marketing at Aha! — the world’s #1 product development software. Claire has 20 years of marketing and software experience. Previously, she led product marketing at an agile-based work management platform.

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