Introducing Aha! shapes to go from whiteboard concept to actionable plan

Whiteboards have become a mainstay in every product manager's toolkit. You love having a flexible space to explore high-level concepts before creating more structured plans. But to bring your plans to life, you need more than just a pretty picture (and you do not want to go through the tedious effort of copying and pasting information into another tool). This is why we are thrilled to introduce Aha! shapes — a new way to bridge the gap between early concepts and structured plans.

Use Aha! shapes to visually represent goals, initiatives, ideas, epics, and features on a whiteboard. Then, convert the best concepts into actual Aha! records to build a detailed roadmap.

Today's update helps you go from early concept to detailed plan even more efficiently. You could already turn any text-based object on a whiteboard into key record types in Aha! Roadmaps, Aha! Ideas, and Aha! Develop — a huge time-saver by itself. Now, you can also add dedicated Aha! shapes as a placeholder for new work. This helps you visually differentiate between work types. Plus, our software automatically knows exactly which Aha! record type to convert each shape into when you are ready.

Quickly add Aha! shapes to your whiteboard from the Shapes menu. Enter a short description and move shapes around as you think through high-level plans. The tool bar for each shape makes it easy to change the record type, leave a comment, and take other quick actions. When you are ready to move forward, select Aha! shapes in the right panel to go from concept to roadmap in one go.

Your Aha! shapes are automatically grouped by type in the side panel. Just pick the ones you want to convert and choose the destination workspace and release (if relevant). Once converted, Aha! shapes transform into record cards on your whiteboard — which means you can open them up and interact with the details.

Aha! shapes are now available in all Aha! products. If you have a standalone Aha! Whiteboards or Aha! Knowledge account, try using whiteboards as part of Aha! Roadmaps, Aha! Ideas, or Aha! Develop to go seamlessly from concept to actionable plan.

Let's see this powerful new functionality in action:

Collaborate on new concepts

Imagine you are creating a user story map to think through a new customer experience. Work with the team to identify the epics and features you will need to implement, organizing them into releases as you go. Here, we are mapping out the user journey for a new marketplace. (We are using a fictitious application called Fredwin Cycling as our example.)

Create an actionable plan

Transition seamlessly from ideation to implementation. In the example below, we quickly turn the epics and features on our whiteboard into Aha! records in our product workspace. (We will convert the features in two batches so we can add them to the right release.) We can fill in the details about each work item directly from the whiteboard, or head over to the Features board to build out the plan.

Big thinking deserves big outcomes. Take your concepts further by transforming them into plans that drive real results.

The journey from inspiration to implementation does not have to be arduous. You deserve a whiteboarding tool that empowers you to do more than create pretty pictures. Try the only purpose-built tool for product teams and tell us what else is on your wish list. We love reimagining the future.

Start a free trial

Aha! shapes in whiteboards are now available to Aha! customers. Our suite of tools includes Aha! Roadmaps, Aha! Ideas, Aha! Whiteboards, Aha! Knowledge, and Aha! Develop. Use each product individually or combined to help teams deliver even greater value. Sign up for a free 30-day trial or join a live demo to see why more than 1 million product builders trust our software to build lovable products and be happy doing it.