Convay Whiteboard

When remote teams need to think together, visuals matter. Convay Whiteboard brought real-time sketching and brainstorming into video meetings, without ever leaving the room. Hosts could start collaborative whiteboards mid-meeting, while participants joined in seamlessly. With simple controls and thoughtful error handling, it turned virtual meetings into interactive workspaces for teams to co-create, align, and move ideas forward.

CATEGORY:

Web Design,

Product Design

ROLE:

UX Designer,

UI Designer

TOOLS:

Figma

Convay at a Glance

Convay is a video conferencing platform built for modern collaboration. Unlike traditional tools, it supports the full meeting lifecycle, from scheduling and hosting to AI-powered transcription, file storage, and post-meeting follow-ups.


Designed with scalability in mind, Convay now supports meetings with up to 10,000 participants and is trusted by governments and international organizations in over 46 countries.


Key features include:

  • High-quality video and audio conferencing

  • AI-based transcription and meeting summaries

  • Cloud storage for meeting files and chat logs

  • Real-time whiteboard, chat, and screen sharing

  • Enterprise-grade security with on-premise and cloud options


Convay brings everything into one platform to simplify meetings, improve productivity, and support high-stakes collaboration at scale.


Convay has been used in global events like SIDSSA 2025 and secured a €5M government contract through its scalable architecture and reliable UX.


Visit convay.com to learn more.

Feature Overview

Convay Whiteboard enabled real-time collaboration inside virtual meetings. Only the host could start a whiteboard session, while participants joined instantly once it began. The tool supported sketching, annotating, and note-taking in a shared space, without leaving the main meeting view.


Participants could minimize or maximize the whiteboard as needed, maintaining focus or multitasking with ease. If the host ended the session, all users were notified instantly.


The design focused on ease of use, clean interaction, and lightweight controls, turning any Convay meeting into a space for visual ideation.

Goal

The goal was to make visual collaboration effortless inside Convay meetings. The Whiteboard feature needed to:


  • Support real-time sketching, brainstorming, and ideation

  • Allow only hosts to control the session flow (start/end)

  • Give participants the freedom to engage, minimize, or exit at will

  • Keep the interface clean, non-intrusive, and focused


Ultimately, the feature aimed to boost engagement without breaking flow, turning meetings into more dynamic, interactive spaces.

My Role and Responsibilities

As the UX Designer for this feature, I was responsible for designing an experience that made collaborative sketching simple and seamless, without overwhelming users during meetings. My tasks included:


  • Designing host and participant flows with clear role-based controls

  • Creating wireframes and UI mockups for the whiteboard launch, session, and error states

  • Ensuring the whiteboard integrated smoothly within the existing meeting panel UI

  • Prioritizing clean layout, minimal distraction, and fail-safe UX with clear notifications and retry paths

  • Collaborating with developers to balance feasibility and responsiveness, especially under real-time constraints


This role required careful attention to user roles, error-proof flows, and a tight focus on collaboration dynamics in virtual meetings.

User Interface Designs

Meeting Panel

Meeting Panel for Host

  • Whiteboard Start Button: The host initiates the whiteboard session through a dedicated “Start Whiteboard” button. This button is accessible only to the host, ensuring control over when collaboration begins.

Whiteboard Start Button

Whiteboard Started

Convay Whiteboard

  • Error Handling (Whiteboard Failed to Start): If the whiteboard session fails to initiate, an error modal appears with a retry option. This error handling helps the host quickly resolve any issues.

Error Handling (Whiteboard Failed to Start)

  • Whiteboard Controls: Once the whiteboard is started, the host can maximize, minimize, or end the session as needed. These controls help manage the whiteboard’s presence during the meeting, allowing for a flexible user experience.

Whiteboard Maximized

Whiteboard Minimized

Whiteboard Open Button while Minimized

Whiteboard Close/end

Meeting Panel for Participants

  • Whiteboard Notification: When the host starts the whiteboard, participants receive a notification that the whiteboard session has begun.

Whiteboard Started

Convay Whiteboard

  • Minimize, Maximize, and Close Options: Participants can choose to minimize or maximize the whiteboard for their convenience, ensuring the feature adapts to their preferences during the meeting.

Whiteboard Maximized

Whiteboard Minimized

Whiteboard Open Button while Minimized

  • End Session Notification: When the host ends the whiteboard session, all participants are notified, indicating the conclusion of the collaborative session.

Whiteboard Ended

Challenges and Solutions

  • Challenge: Making collaboration powerful without overwhelming the screen

    Users needed enough tools to sketch, ideate, and write, but a cluttered interface would break focus during meetings.

    Solution: We kept the whiteboard interface clean and distraction-free. Essential tools (pen, eraser, shapes, text) were placed in a minimal toolbar, and we avoided floating tool menus. This gave participants space to think visually without getting lost in too many options.

    “It’s just the right amount of tools, doesn’t get
    in the way of the actual collaboration.”
    — Internal test participant

  • Challenge: Giving hosts control while letting participants stay flexible

    Only the host should start and stop whiteboards, but participants needed control over how they view or interact with it.

    Solution: The “Start Whiteboard” button is only visible to hosts, ensuring control. Participants can join, minimize, maximize, or close the whiteboard freely, making it feel optional and adaptive rather than intrusive.

  • Challenge: Preventing technical glitches from disrupting flow

    Whiteboard initialization occasionally failed due to server issues. We needed a way to handle it gracefully.

    Solution: We designed a clear error modal with a friendly retry option, avoiding dead ends. This let the host quickly reinitiate the session without impacting the meeting’s momentum.

Outcome and Impact

The Convay Whiteboard feature added value to the virtual meeting experience in several meaningful ways:


  • Boosted collaboration: Teams could now visually brainstorm, sketch ideas, and co-create in real time, improving clarity and engagement during discussions.

  • Improved meeting flow: With intuitive controls for both hosts and participants, the whiteboard felt like a seamless part of the meeting, not an interruption.

  • Reduced support requests: Internal testing showed a 35% drop in whiteboard-related queries after error handling and host-only access were introduced.

  • Positive user feedback: Participants appreciated the ability to minimize or close the whiteboard when not needed, giving them control over their experience.


By integrating this feature, Convay positioned itself as more than just a video platform, it became a true collaboration space.

Takeaways

Designing the Convay Whiteboard taught me how small touches, like minimizing clutter or handling errors gracefully, can make a big difference in collaborative tools.


One of the key challenges was balancing host control with participant flexibility. We wanted the feature to feel powerful yet unobtrusive. It reminded me that great UX often means knowing when to get out of the way, letting users lead their own experience without friction.


I also learned how crucial it is to design with real-world hiccups in mind. Adding a simple retry option may seem minor, but it can turn frustration into trust.


“The best collaboration tools

don’t just support teamwork, they invite it.”


This project reinforced my belief that thoughtful UX isn’t about adding more; it’s about designing what truly matters.