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Doing so takes time, care, and hard work, but the end result is something that we’re quite proud of.","_key":"5f1f855ed9cd0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"062bd691272c"},{"_key":"84163e7718da","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Taking a moment to reflect on it all","_key":"39ceae1016600"}],"_type":"block","style":"h2"},{"style":"normal","_key":"a32f7a2d6500","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Was it worth it? Yes. Our need for a first-rate text editor has only expanded over time. As we’ve introduced rich-text formatting to our boards and expanded our text editing features, having the ability to rework core parts of the editor has been immeasurably helpful.","_key":"16deda48937b0"}],"_type":"block"},{"_key":"04729c466f10","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"7465fbb3e2920","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"We can have the same text editing experience across boards, docs, and anything new that we build in the future."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"style":"normal","_key":"a99ea9541add","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/blog/creating-a-fast-familiar-writing-experience-in-whimsical","_key":"4d7849bfe02e"}],"children":[{"_key":"9a72e4f6a4380","_type":"span","marks":["4d7849bfe02e","em"],"text":"Creating a fast, familiar writing experience in Whimsical"},{"_key":"9a72e4f6a4381","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" dives deeper into the details of this experience, but here are a few examples that I think are particularly fun:"}],"_type":"block"},{"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"2eaeaebb88cf","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"49247860cc4e0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Visual changes to the cursor when formatting text"}]},{"style":"normal","_key":"31626bdb606f","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Our editor has a completely synthetic cursor, meaning that (in most cases) the cursor presented to a user isn’t the native cursor provided by the browser.","_key":"ceee7b1781a60"}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"text":"While we maintain native selection under the hood, the custom presentation allows us many affordances, such as hinting when formatting has changed:","_key":"fa6c1defa80b0","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"0af086612853","markDefs":[]},{"_type":"richImage","alt":"A GIF showing the cursor changing angle and width as it types italics or bold text.","_key":"7ea77a696c68","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-835a9add429f4d9ab788fcc5270b82f0e7613e46-800x122-gif","_type":"reference"}}},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Movement along inline code formatting boundaries","_key":"70a6a63951850"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"bc412cfe5dd0"},{"_key":"cc4a93df782a","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Figuring out when your cursor is inside or out of code formatting was a real friction point for us, so we made it easy to escape inline code segments, providing a visual cue with our cursor:","_key":"5f2d445b87bf0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"aeb564a6ce7a","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"","_key":"605f5d50c65e"}]},{"alt":"A GIF of the cursor typing some containing code.","_key":"7bc259cc0253","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_type":"reference","_ref":"image-e2fc33ae8ec7640559da52504cad37feccbe4a55-800x122-gif"}},"_type":"richImage"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Nesting boards and other docs","_key":"88be2fe6b1ba0"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"46a82dbcfbba"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"e63f5acd4df1","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"We allow users to embed all sorts of content in our docs, but embedding Whimsical files is special.","_key":"b4ad439fc13e0"}]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Since embedding Whimsical files into a doc doesn’t create an iframe, the content loads super fast, and we can use the existing resources to improve the time it takes to open a doc.","_key":"a1e0adbd284d0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"e2c70e22368b","markDefs":[]},{"style":"normal","_key":"5f6152764730","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"But beyond load times, it’s also super quick to embed a file at any time. For example, just type ","_key":"5ad45048cff20"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"/board","_key":"5ad45048cff21"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" to quickly create a new board and embed it in your document:","_key":"5ad45048cff22"}],"_type":"block"},{"alt":"Replacing a blog post list outline with a mind map.","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"382b02bf0987","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"asset":{"_ref":"image-fb8eef02fc5da44b12b31c1a9f5ca8fbe4f881ab-768x571-gif","_type":"reference"},"_type":"image"},"_type":"richImage"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Building a text editor is a huge effort","_key":"9a9be6744c080"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"1c7c3614098e"},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Creating our text editor has been arduous, complex, and rewarding. We learn and discover new problems, and the editor changes as a result. Like our input collection process, which has changed dramatically from its first implementation. And now that we've extended our support for mobile devices, it's forced us to question core assumptions about how our editor needs to work.","_key":"860bf50fd7e40","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6439a2d21650","markDefs":[]},{"style":"normal","_key":"5cfe99c7f4d1","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"It’s demanding work, but building something for ourselves also means we get to chart our own course. 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Share your feedback with us on ","_key":"c9047c778b452"},{"marks":["92779092caab"],"text":"Twitter","_key":"c9047c778b453","_type":"span"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":".","_key":"c9047c778b454"}],"_type":"block"}],"legacyThumbnailImage":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_type":"reference","_ref":"image-8e9dd91f77c9c0d8229c05598ef2356b05a4a851-1360x1120-png"}},"publishedAt":"2023-11-16T17:48:00.000Z","blogCategories":[{"_id":"38a43fc1-ad24-4836-8404-9fb3acac1998","title":"Product","slug":{"current":"product"}}],"_id":"d24a49a6-f130-4410-85d6-29154c354859","metaDescription":"Learn how the Whimsical engineering team built a text editor with international language support within a browser. ","thumbnailImage":null,"author":{"title":"Staff Engineer","xUrl":"https://twitter.com/natehunzaker","githubUrl":null,"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-c22f5e4f6ba6a1e75615b834da7575249b6dbca6-400x400-jpg","_type":"reference"}},"instagramUrl":null,"linkedinUrl":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-hunzaker-5b0095166","name":"Nate Hunzaker"}},{"publishedAt":"2023-11-03T18:52:00.000Z","subtitle":null,"title":"Building the Whimsical text editor: part 1","author":{"title":"Staff Engineer","xUrl":"https://twitter.com/natehunzaker","githubUrl":null,"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-c22f5e4f6ba6a1e75615b834da7575249b6dbca6-400x400-jpg","_type":"reference"}},"instagramUrl":null,"linkedinUrl":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-hunzaker-5b0095166","name":"Nate Hunzaker"},"relatedBlogPosts":[{"_id":"d24a49a6-f130-4410-85d6-29154c354859"},{"_id":"c99911ef-e431-4efc-abae-7ca819172af2"}],"_id":"673385c7-d2f9-46ea-b45d-4d844084414d","blogCategories":[{"_id":"38a43fc1-ad24-4836-8404-9fb3acac1998","title":"Product","slug":{"current":"product"}}],"legacyThumbnailImage":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_type":"reference","_ref":"image-a5fac21bd29d4fb27657b946d935684c65c74333-1360x1120-png"}},"thumbnailImage":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-2789b0ee10a15dc178469033802864e183379ad6-852x680-png","_type":"reference"}},"top":null,"blogResources":null,"body":[{"markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/docs","_key":"82a771dabcd1"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"At the start of 2020, we began building a brand new text editor. Looking toward the release of ","_key":"763bb0f46a180"},{"_type":"span","marks":["82a771dabcd1"],"text":"docs","_key":"763bb0f46a181"},{"_key":"763bb0f46a182","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" later that year, we wanted to ensure we could create the best possible writing experience."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"30337943077b"},{"style":"normal","_key":"a3a1d53bd15e","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://github.com/ianstormtaylor/slate","_key":"14e204d41881"},{"_key":"c36f6d7e862e","_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/flowcharts"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"At the time, we were relying on a ","_key":"1fcce893b5030"},{"_type":"span","marks":["14e204d41881"],"text":"Slate","_key":"1fcce893b5031"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" (a third-party text editing library) to handle text editing in ","_key":"1fcce893b5032"},{"text":"boards","_key":"1fcce893b5033","_type":"span","marks":["c36f6d7e862e"]},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":". While this was mostly working for us, upgrades were a pain and we had many unresolved issues with extended language support. With the new text editing requirements in docs, we realized this library was ill-suited for our long-term plan. This combination of product aspirations and technical concerns led us to start anew.","_key":"1fcce893b5034"}],"_type":"block"},{"_key":"5c77bfad7bb5","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"c8e2c680d5500","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Building a text editor within a browser came with many challenges. It wasn’t easy. It "},{"_key":"c8e2c680d5501","_type":"span","marks":["em"],"text":"still "},{"text":"isn’t easy. This has been our longest running technical project at Whimsical, which is why this article has a Part 1 and a Part 2.","_key":"c8e2c680d5502","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b4373cd63ddc","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Let’s start with Part 1.","_key":"87121d561ebd0","_type":"span"}]},{"style":"h2","_key":"89fcea0c34d9","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"91e0f9d78fa30","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"What it takes to start from scratch"}],"_type":"block"},{"_key":"df92fe7d4865","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"‘Scratch’ is a loaded term with any browser-based tool, but building a new text editor is still a ","_key":"217f2310e6f10"},{"_type":"span","marks":["em"],"text":"massive","_key":"217f2310e6f11"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" task. It’s not something I ever thought I would do...and it was somewhat terrifying.","_key":"217f2310e6f12"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The browser gives you a lot for free, but it comes at a cost. Your app lives within multiple platforms with existing opinions about text input. Many factors are completely out of your control and are simply different between major browsers and operating systems.","_key":"983f583544800"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"262d5fd0a5b6"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Still, we knew that we wanted deep control over many fundamental text editing features. That meant recreating them for ourselves.","_key":"6873a99f9c1c0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"38748a1fcfc2"},{"markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/","_key":"0c8861745e3c"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"We had to reinvent and rediscover numerous text editing capabilities, which required careful consideration about how text editing should work in a product like ","_key":"72b33de00d950"},{"_type":"span","marks":["0c8861745e3c"],"text":"Whimsical","_key":"72b33de00d951"},{"marks":[],"text":".","_key":"72b33de00d952","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"174e13196a0c"},{"style":"normal","_key":"704d065ba5a2","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"Here’s a closer look at some of those considerations:","_key":"20d3e10ff4b40","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block"},{"style":"h3","_key":"7a3e2215b0d3","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Selecting and navigating text","_key":"a03b75c7e5a10","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"How should text selection and cursor placement work?","_key":"3bb8c8d4836b0","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b4dfe692e1fb","markDefs":[]},{"style":"normal","_key":"115513f1a9b0","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"This is such a fundamental part of modern applications that we often don’t even think about it. It’s an expectation, not a feature. Still, editing collaboratively often gets less consideration. How should another user’s typing experience influence your own? There are a few things that we believe are important.","_key":"ff40639bd9a70"}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Typing at another user’s position shouldn’t move their cursor","_key":"39ac02e1ef160"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"9819cf8e21ed","markDefs":[]},{"_key":"f1da3965968f","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"When this happens, it can be maddening—like when a laggy video game finally catches up and you discover you are in a completely new place. A user’s cursor is a crucial communication tool. Often it is the only way in which editors communicate while working on a document.","_key":"a120ac61dcbb0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_key":"520c6012307f","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-e17a0becac5db6f9eaa66a51f33d1d33259fac48-1024x526-gif","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"A GIF of two simultaneous editors editing the same line of text in Whimsical's Docs."},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"When one user types at the same location as another user, all of their edits should be respected and inserted where they intended. The cursor should definitely ","_key":"3cb5159355890"},{"_type":"span","marks":["em"],"text":"never","_key":"3cb5159355891"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" get pushed along with the other user’s edits or jump to the wrong spot.","_key":"3cb5159355892"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"48ab8c87f899"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"f112a14521620","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"As a typist, you need to feel in control."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"404bfd0d53d0"},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Keeping the cursor in the correct position no matter what","_key":"f0bff8a7d3420","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"aaff55a046a2","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"The browser gives us tools for managing selection and, at first glance, we could use existing DOM APIs to model selection. However, since a user essentially performs arbitrary HTML manipulation while they type, there are a lot of cases where DOM selection struggles to keep up.","_key":"a9434f8ff03c0","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"934355a0f45c"},{"_key":"0cbeb6ad3412","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"Let’s look at an example:","_key":"758613efabc90","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_type":"richImage","alt":"A screenshot of Whimsical Docs pointing out the cursor position.","_key":"9cbdb04505e6","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-457cf2bc9a1daa046b294f12e58ac9388d242e24-2116x192-webp","_type":"reference"}}},{"style":"normal","_key":"ccc2fbfa1fd5","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Here we have some text inside of HTML. In the browser, a selection range is based on an HTML element, with a relative numeric offset indicating the position of the cursor within that element.","_key":"85479605eb370"}],"_type":"block"},{"style":"normal","_key":"a9efaba4bea6","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/range","_key":"54b9c9baca99"}],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Another way to describe the example above is with a browser ","_key":"cba0b6e8a41a0","_type":"span"},{"_key":"cba0b6e8a41a1","_type":"span","marks":["54b9c9baca99"],"text":"DOM Range"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":":","_key":"cba0b6e8a41a2"}],"_type":"block"},{"image":{"asset":{"_ref":"image-27dde5dbb114f3d5a024c17e411e8505cdbf5af4-2114x348-webp","_type":"reference"},"_type":"image"},"_type":"richImage","alt":"The JS code for creating a 4-character range of text.","_key":"7e3c4f41f46f","imageTheme":"thinBorder"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"282cbccc5367","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"8cbc62a2043d0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"4 characters from the start of the span. Easy enough. But what happens if some of the text is made bold by another user?"}]},{"alt":"The HTML \"<span><b>Hey,</b> world</span>\"","_key":"100675a23e94","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-9db5d86653c1dbd11c75e5d47d5cb32c725766d2-2114x112-webp","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"e23ddd6d13d8","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"This bold section counts as a position relative to the span, so if we use the same selection position, the cursor will jump over to the right!","_key":"b75e79039ddf0","_type":"span","marks":[]}]},{"alt":"The HTML \"<span><b>Hey,</b> world</span>\", with the cursor between \"wo\" and \"rld\"","_key":"d8c249c7d9ae","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-6be50c96214d4bfdfcfe2a0969d0ad86974da6d8-2122x190-webp","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"566f42c3a20f","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"3c96a009c8640","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The solution we developed to this problem is to describe selection at a much higher level of abstraction that transcends the rendered HTML output from our editor. This way, we have a format that can account for these modifications."}]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Cursor position is more of an idea than a place","_key":"909a65bab98a0"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"953d94373167"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"In our data model, every atomic unit of content is expressed in a chain. Each node has a distinct index that does not change between edits:","_key":"eda206ef9f880"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"19061774e226"},{"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-aa91a342b7c931e1b8bbe598ea906a895a123762-2112x822-webp","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Diagram of the users cursor position, between the comma and before the spce of \"hey world\"","caption":[{"_key":"5607af337e8f","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"Our selection model","_key":"343fb406d0de","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"}],"_key":"8c4a56a68b2a","imageTheme":"thinBorder"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"bfd5fb74230e","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"This means that if content is changed in any way—formatted, deleted, updated—the cursor’s position remains associated with the underlying content. The structural change doesn’t matter because the index stays the same.","_key":"3f61a9d84a270"}]},{"alt":"A diagram of the cursor retaining its position, even though the content before it has grown.","caption":[{"style":"normal","_key":"d28c11e1db29","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"New edits","_key":"e69b98fa78e7","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block"}],"_key":"3989997554a2","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-f234fcc819e2127a39dd34840061f4237b2a4d22-2122x698-webp","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage"},{"style":"normal","_key":"0c0c2a8bb70d","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"This has an additional benefit: if the index of the cursor is ever deleted, we can still place the cursor as close as possible to the original location.","_key":"064f389c020c0","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"86900ffb69c9","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"This ends up paying off not only for a user’s selection state, but also when visualizing the location of another user’s cursor and selection. The increased resilience to change ensures that multiplayer text selection remains correct as a document is modified.","_key":"36ac0d347cfd0"}]},{"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-fa5e4fa7b2d61a58c58505a77b67586a8877937c-800x464-gif","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"A GIF of two instances of Whimsical Docs, with synced text highlighting between them.","_key":"88919b7ce9ba","imageTheme":"thinBorder"},{"_key":"ffad56e9df6e","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Text formatting: always respect a user’s intent","_key":"36b9d25073910"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"Our guiding principle in collaborative text editing is to always preserve the user’s intent—their desire whenever first performing an action, regardless of activity from other users. This is especially important when applying formatting, where user actions can conflict.","_key":"074d5b2b8e840","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"44dd88074aa7"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"What happens when one user removes the bold formatting below, while another makes the entire sentence bold?","_key":"ab539e91deaa0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"aa55cc922c43"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b4f4035a8563","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"a51a20d051a20","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Let’s use the following example to support my point:"}]},{"_key":"c99e2b11faad","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"This is ","_key":"76705d35b27b0"},{"text":"really cool text","_key":"76705d35b27b1","_type":"span","marks":["strong"]},{"_key":"76705d35b27b2","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-2fe5579b1d6972263860dac0544bc0867194169b-2118x1196-webp","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"A diagram of the difficulty resolving two simultaneous changes to the same piece of text.","caption":[{"_key":"cd2363da47a8","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Text formatting example","_key":"2b3faa822b840"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"}],"_key":"dc0f6fb8fc89"},{"style":"normal","_key":"bb12af85abdb","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"The question is somewhat philosophical, and there are a lot of cases to account for. 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Text is a key part of this experience, which is why we took a lot of care to ensure the writing experience in Whimsical (from sticky notes, to table cells, to flowchart shapes) ","_key":"9ca6799699470"},{"_type":"span","marks":["em"],"text":"feels","_key":"9ca6799699471"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" right. So much care in fact, that we built our own text editor.","_key":"9ca6799699472"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"648300a703b3","markDefs":[]},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"5210d8728c92","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"With full control over text editing in Whimsical, we’ve been able to tailor it specifically for our vision of the app, giving users just enough control over formatting options without introducing opportunities for distraction. 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You can visualize your thoughts, ideas, and ‘messy work’ fast, while still maintaining a level of polish and order in your working file. We’ve made this possible by ","_key":"b5629bd5d8530"},{"text":"limiting the number of stylistic choices and combinations","_key":"b5629bd5d8531","_type":"span","marks":["48c295bd06bf"]},{"marks":[],"text":" a user can choose. This is based on the opinion that too many font, color, and size options can actually produce diminishing returns and distract a user’s focus. Instead, we offer a limited library with just enough variables to create a clear hierarchy quickly. We want users to feel confident sharing their work without having to fuss over formatting.","_key":"b5629bd5d8532","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block"},{"style":"h3","_key":"546bae7c4587","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Purpose-built formatting","_key":"0eed0588e1de0"}],"_type":"block"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Not all objects with text are created equal when it comes to formatting. That’s why we’ve defined formatting constraints for objects that have been designed for specific purposes. For example, wireframe elements that have implied boundaries like inputs and drop-downs.","_key":"f6f086a3ee1b0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"d0023a96e748"},{"_type":"richImage","alt":"Whimsical's contextual text formatting bar, on an input board object.","caption":[{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"c4d95e047464","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"💡 ","_key":"b87242860e20"},{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Tip:","_key":"67ef2733b3f4"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" Use standard keyboard short-cuts to change the format e.g. ⌘ B for bold","_key":"8a8709ef3fa1"}]}],"_key":"a3ffda80e762","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-ed799dc9a3f7405f91e237fae96aa86d68533ee6-2780x1444-webp","_type":"reference"}}},{"_key":"c954eaeafd38","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"‍","_key":"c1c3bfc4046d0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Making Whimsical feel ","_key":"3145f7c0fae40"},{"_type":"span","marks":["em"],"text":"whimsical","_key":"3145f7c0fae41"}],"_type":"block","style":"h2","_key":"bf51f087e10e","markDefs":[]},{"_key":"5ab2e1ab0955","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Similar editing in docs and boards","_key":"efbb44fd93150"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3"},{"style":"normal","_key":"c4a539a06cd6","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"In addition to balancing constraint and flexibility, we also take care to ensure the experience feels familiar anywhere in Whimsical. As we’ve evolved docs to include more rich text formatting like headers, list items, at-mentions, and highlights, text formatting in board objects has evolved in tandem. For example, flowchart shapes and sticky notes now have updated header styling. This allows users to bring hierarchy into diagrams and notes, the same way they would in a doc.","_key":"f1c075f2fa4c0"}],"_type":"block"},{"imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"asset":{"_ref":"image-746d8a66e139278fb9b019eda805b3c9a3b21cc4-2674x1228-webp","_type":"reference"},"_type":"image"},"_type":"richImage","alt":"A Whimsical flowchart where some objects have rich text with monospace formatting.","_key":"c03338389d9b"},{"style":"normal","_key":"67c245b982bb","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Another example is annotations in wireframe elements. We built annotations to help people document aspects of user flows or wireframes and it has lived with plain text formatting since its inception...until now! Annotations now include at-mentions, list-items, code blocks, and other styling options that allow users to emphasize different aspects and provide detailed feedback.","_key":"224e311baa3f0"}],"_type":"block"},{"image":{"asset":{"_ref":"image-e9cb4e1219978d1a6a0dcbd9a643307c903ee6eb-3620x1320-webp","_type":"reference"},"_type":"image"},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Wireframe annotations, containing rich text like headers, code formatting, and @mentions.","_key":"ea2927814239","imageTheme":"thinBorder"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"40adca403c71","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Mind maps are great for organizing information into a logical hierarchy. 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As you build on your ideas, they take on new shapes and levels of refinement. Copying text from a sticky note (in a board to a doc) should be a breeze, and we want to ensure formatted properties are retained to reduce redundant work. Since we employ standard markdown syntax, formatting such as headings, font-weight, and bulleted list items will format correctly when copy and pasted into other markdown friendly editors.","_key":"ca329cdddbcc0","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"d442bdf041f2"},{"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-09706d68a2edcef0805d227ff16b3a46f80d3557-1604x960-gif","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"A GIF of rich text being pasted between a board and a doc and retaining its formatting.","_key":"7c536a20f96d","imageTheme":"thinBorder"},{"markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/signup?ref=aittfwhimsicalblog","_key":"7cc0e6af06d1"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"These are just some of the decisions that went into enhancing our text editing and formatting options in Whimsical. 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It has clear-cut benefits over more commonly used Agile methodologies (which we cover below) but beyond those, it’s also a full set of tools for ideation and planning - with Shape Up it’s easy to describe and prioritize what you build."}]},{"style":"normal","_key":"77f62344a6f6","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"However, it includes power dynamics that will slow you down and potentially kill your team’s motivation. It may also lead you to build the wrong features as you scale. 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The intention here is more focus time, larger pieces of work, and fewer meetings. All big wins, and part of the reason we chose this method for Whimsical."}],"level":1,"_type":"block"},{"_key":"52237afa6837","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Scope - In Agile development, engineers are given bite-sized, specific pieces of work. Shape Up offers less defined, larger areas to work and leaves engineers with room to make decisions, and their own mark on the project.","_key":"a3e1a644d3f00"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"style":"normal","_key":"e5195fbb1605","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Backlogs - There aren’t any in Shape Up. If a project isn’t done within a cycle, and there’s still an appetite for completing it, it‘s pitched again as a fresh project at the start of the next cycle.","_key":"f33cc6c5592c0"}],"level":1,"_type":"block"},{"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-91bd32b2a15c037e17709981a6a27670dbd0dfcd-2356x982-jpg","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Comparison of the differences between Agile methods, like Kanban and Scrum, and Shape Up. The differences shown are Time, Scope and Backlogs","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"1a5fceaf145f","imageTheme":"thinBorder"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"There’s one key similarity between Agile methods and Shape Up; both are top-down frameworks. 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This is the only way to ensure (1).","_key":"266b955180440"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"78ef3a768657"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"e80534017adf0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"We want to keep the compensation framework simple yet flexible enough for future growth."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6bac45524c34"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"To start with, we have 9 distinct levels, each associated with a specific salary and mapped to every role we have at the moment. Increases between each level are the same—exactly 25%. This is what it looks like:","_key":"6e315aae6ed30"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"c60eefbbe0f7"},{"_type":"richImage","alt":"Whimsical's compensation table","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"91b259539cb1","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-c47e766925ce65cffa61d30e708ce33237e0f3d5-1240x800-png","_type":"reference"}}},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Our salaries are even across the roles. For example, a senior customer experience specialist will make the same as senior software engineer. If two people have a similar amount of experience and capabilities in different roles, they are compensated equally, no matter if one produces code while other ensures a delightful customer experience.","_key":"8e7011c66ec30"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"48d475827b35"},{"children":[{"text":"To calculate the actual salary numbers, we start by collecting the top 10% of market rates globally for each role. Then we adjust the baseline number (S1) to ensure that every box in the framework is at or above the market rate.","_key":"b4ccb28cbcb10","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"07884249a84d","markDefs":[]},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"We recalibrate the framework once a year, again by looking at the market rates and readjusting the baseline number if any of the roles have fallen below (but we never decrease it). This way, the raises happen automatically and there are no awkward negotiations.","_key":"1e7654a706bf0","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6ab9937a7198","markDefs":[]},{"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"df21c54b86e6","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Benefits","_key":"933c37871c860"}]},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"We think of benefits as something you cannot buy with money. And there's really just one thing like that—time. That's why we offer:","_key":"e4dab2ef9f1c0","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"d3663ee72432","markDefs":[]},{"listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"6 weeks of annual paid time off","_key":"3d7a09c5b5740"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"d2aca93159ee"},{"listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"4 weeks of paid parental leave (this is for countries where the government doesn't take care of it)","_key":"2babd33aaba80","_type":"span"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6896193be803"},{"children":[{"text":"One exception to this is health insurance. Most countries have universal healthcare, except the US, where we fully cover the premium for employees and their dependents.","_key":"b921c6062aa10","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"19d2ed544d34","markDefs":[]},{"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"7d124563d964","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Equity","_key":"5399db7b6e0d0"}]},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"7d1d6d60ef2d","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"I hold the view that the binary distinction between founders and employees doesn't make much sense. It's more of a gradient and we wanted it to be reflected accordingly in the equity.","_key":"c52853d682de0"}]},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"db025b90b54d","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The equity framework starts with the internal valuation, for which we use a simple formula—annual recurring revenue times five.","_key":"3371ddf5d2020"}]},{"style":"normal","_key":"b55ed33bd59e","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"6b3c88d0b3510","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The other input is what we call stock target value (STV), which is the target value of issued equity in cash. It is based on the level, similarly to salary:"}],"_type":"block"},{"_type":"richImage","alt":"Whimsical's equity table","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"029cfb383521","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_type":"reference","_ref":"image-80a7b95a17f4a592538246f1e97e657dde1ebd13-1240x556-png"}}},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The baseline level E3 is approximately the same as the level 3 salary (S3).","_key":"7a448cbc70100"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"fa84f716bbb3"},{"style":"normal","_key":"f83f2acfe62d","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"The complete formula then is as follows:","_key":"ed2cf73a65790","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"7e3a8a7207af","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"valuation = ARR x 5","_key":"a861705373710"}]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"share price = valuation / number of fully diluted shares (this is all currently issued shares and options, independent of vesting)","_key":"a82e475ae35e0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"89995ec12ec6"},{"style":"normal","_key":"de9c15b5e7af","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"shares to offer = stock target value / share price","_key":"76b4927e8cdb0"}],"_type":"block"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"It's hard to get good data on this but from what we can tell, the resulting equity is a magnitude higher than the industry standard. What's more important is that we ended up with a relatively smooth equity curve from founders to early employees to later employees.","_key":"fc2485f451c40"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"97545ad6880d"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"49204067d944","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"To be fair, it's not exactly apples to apples. Because a long term approach to everything is core to Whimsical's philosophy, our vesting period for shares is 8 years. That is twice as long as the industry standard 4 years.","_key":"135dfcd4a2360"}]},{"_type":"break","style":"hr","_key":"4b617f79950b"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"So that's the story so far.","_key":"e91262714f070"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"8c0633102ff4"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"5bfc1cda13e2","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"If you are just getting started with your own business, I hope this may serve as a useful data point.","_key":"545e0ae5bd150"}]},{"markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://apply.workable.com/whimsical/","_key":"7f6b36345f5a"}],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"If you are someone looking for new challenges, perhaps check out ","_key":"c75b55052aee0","_type":"span"},{"_type":"span","marks":["7f6b36345f5a"],"text":"our jobs page","_key":"c75b55052aee1"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":".","_key":"c75b55052aee2"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"05c54180a5a9"},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"‍","_key":"1f5e490eb5260","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"bede17f829ad","markDefs":[]}],"featured":null,"publishedAt":"2021-03-25T07:17:00.000Z","subtitle":null,"thumbnailImage":null,"title":"Whimsical guide to compensation","author":{"githubUrl":"https://github.com/k7d","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-f6680eab95e32151384675a80d18ffd12244923d-60x60-jpg","_type":"reference"}},"instagramUrl":"https://www.instagram.com/k7d","linkedinUrl":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasparsd","name":"Kaspars Dancis","title":"Founder & CEO","xUrl":"https://twitter.com/kasparsdancis"},"_id":"4f7c8f16-f193-40c8-8937-327d169b9fc1","blogResources":null,"metaDescription":"At Whimsical, we follow a principle that everybody contributing to the business should be treated equitably, no matter when they started, where they live, or where they come from."},{"blogCategories":[{"_id":"974d829f-3d76-434d-b55d-97312faf0114","title":"Business","slug":{"current":"business"}}],"publishedAt":"2020-10-28T18:00:00.000Z","slug":{"current":"investing-in-a-sustainable-future","_type":"slug"},"title":"Investing in a sustainable future","thumbnailImage":null,"_id":"ef9ca7a3-2e83-421a-a2c4-174208121a31","featured":null,"subtitle":null,"body":[{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"One of the ","_key":"fa7d8f079d6d0"},{"marks":["b73deb049233"],"text":"core philosophies of Whimsical","_key":"fa7d8f079d6d1","_type":"span"},{"text":" is that business is about more than just profit. It's also about ethics, sustainability, and investing in the long-term good.","_key":"fa7d8f079d6d2","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"d08af61655b1","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/blog/philosophy","_key":"b73deb049233"}]},{"children":[{"text":"The health of our planet is as long-term as it gets. There's not a doubt in our minds that anthropogenic climate change is real and that we have to be a part of the solution. We believe that everyone—governments, NGOs, individuals, ","_key":"6866a684611e0","_type":"span","marks":[]},{"_key":"6866a684611e1","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"as well as businesses"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"—have to contribute to help solve this issue.","_key":"6866a684611e2"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"04dccc6bd8bd","markDefs":[]},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"033e94680d8f","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/blog/on-the-path-to-sustainability","_key":"c3d5e3882c42"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["c3d5e3882c42"],"text":"Last year we donated $5000 to Eden Reforestation Projects","_key":"fd02fc0e2b040"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" to offset the CO2 generated in running Whimsical. While we felt good about it, we knew there's more we could do.","_key":"fd02fc0e2b041"}]},{"_key":"1f0a4b1a6638","markDefs":[{"href":"https://www.onepercentfortheplanet.org/","_key":"0356bb3b5a0a","_type":"link"}],"children":[{"text":"One of the companies that continues to inspire our business philosophy is Patagonia. Patagonia has long-campaigned for businesses to take a leading role in tackling climate change. One of the most straightforward ways they've done this is by first donating 1% of their revenue to projects related to environmental causes. To multiply the impact, they started ","_key":"17122ed5de840","_type":"span","marks":[]},{"_type":"span","marks":["0356bb3b5a0a"],"text":"1% for the Planet","_key":"17122ed5de841"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" as a way to allow other companies and individuals to invest in the projects that Patagonia has vetted.","_key":"17122ed5de842"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"style":"normal","_key":"306cbe980c11","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"The idea of giving back is very exciting to us. This year, we're in a place to prioritize it even more.","_key":"8de5796067a20","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block"},{"markDefs":[{"_key":"96d02bfdaa72","_type":"link","href":"https://stripe.com/climate"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Therefore we've made the decision to become part of ","_key":"f15b65d041fb0"},{"_type":"span","marks":["96d02bfdaa72","strong"],"text":"Stripe Climate","_key":"f15b65d041fb1"},{"_key":"f15b65d041fb2","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":", and contribute 1% of our revenue to help tackle climate change going forwards."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"2c1e374493c3"},{"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-8dcd9cec38053c6d3d7bb7b315a1df6303edd8e3-1240x1005-png","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"We contribute 1% of purchases to fund next-generation carbon removal","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"94e57d66ac56"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"While we could spend a lot of time and effort researching, reaching out, communicating, and then validating different projects, we also realized that it would be more effective to \"stand on the shoulders of giants\". Economies of scale really do play a big part in this, and vetting projects that would maximize the benefit of our contributions is very important to us.","_key":"b46a777361ec0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"acb2c4d23992","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Here's why we decided to partner with Stripe:","_key":"fd28f86d25470"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"2a866d68f5d2"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Ease of contribution.","_key":"80ef1c77e5580"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" Stripe automatically deducts the 1% from our Stripe account. This is very convenient for us as 100% of our revenue goes through Stripe, thus we don't have to do anything other than building a great product to contribute.","_key":"80ef1c77e5581"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"93758fa0b8ba","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[]},{"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"c2f5eb17aaf0","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://github.com/stripe/negative-emissions-source-materials","_key":"05712f08d3f8"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Trust in our relationship with Stripe.","_key":"968501b568d60"},{"marks":[],"text":" We've been able to trust Stripe with large swathes of our payment and revenue infrastructure, as well as multiple Stripe product betas. That, and ","_key":"968501b568d61","_type":"span"},{"text":"Stripe's thorough, and public project selection process","_key":"968501b568d62","_type":"span","marks":["05712f08d3f8"]},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" led us to believe that Stripe would be very scrupulous and attentive towards the projects they supported, thus also maximizing our contribution.","_key":"968501b568d63"}]},{"_key":"689ec37b2fbe","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://stripe.com/blog/first-negative-emissions-purchases","_key":"fa2ca73b39ae"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Belief in Stripe's chosen direction.","_key":"99995206d33b0"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" Stripe has chosen to invest in ","_key":"99995206d33b1"},{"_type":"span","marks":["fa2ca73b39ae"],"text":"next-generation carbon removal technologies","_key":"99995206d33b2"},{"text":", and pay the \"early adopter tax\" to help those technologies develop and become less expensive. This goes well with our beliefs in long-term approaches and investments.","_key":"99995206d33b3","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"1d2ca728131c","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"15048c2458210","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"At the end of the day, every little bit matters. 1% may not be a lot, but it's infinitely more than 0%. Also, diversity of approaches matters, as we'll need to plant trees, reduce waste, reduce emissions, alleviate global poverty, and much more to overcome climate change. 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","_key":"47eea65a2ecd8","_type":"span"},{"_type":"span","marks":["bb07c2017930"],"text":"Stripe has a great writeup","_key":"47eea65a2ecd9"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" of why this matters.","_key":"47eea65a2ecd10"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"1ab07e6b6123"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The formula we used to calculate our CO2 footprint was very simple and probably far from perfect, but baby steps are steps too as long as they are in the right direction. While we could spend a lot of time searching for super-precise numbers, we chose to focus on the bigger picture and made quite a few assumptions. 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While we understand that planting trees alone will most likely not solve the climate change problem, it seemed like a very straightforward way to achieve our goal which is to offset Whimsical's climate impact.","_key":"175c69bb90780","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"ae0fd8dcccbb"},{"style":"normal","_key":"5b85db17f8d3","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"As for the monetary side - deciding how much to donate to offset a ton of CO2 is quite a bit more complicated than it would seem. 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The majority of tech news is about who raised another record round of funding. There is a cascading effect of this being perceived as the default way of building a software business.","_key":"11b3f37b079a0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"53b8a5f534fc","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"9d979fddae3e0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Step one is getting into a reputable startup accelerator. Step two is a seed round. Step three is VC funding (usually several rounds). Step four is selling the company or (if you are very lucky) IPO."}]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"At Whimsical, after some contemplation, we’ve decided to pursue a more traditional way of starting a business. Step one is building a product that at least some people would pay for. Step two is reaching profitability. Step three is to keep growing in a balanced way. 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It is an unpredictable process that can lead to the original team disintegrating and the product going downhill fast.","_key":"3da16bf8dc9c0"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"a4aaef40c350"},{"_key":"c89c2171df27","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"It almost never benefits the customers.","_key":"1393b841e55a0"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"1bbfe0c61b2a","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"After having gone through the process twice, I have a strong preference for not having to do it again. Even if that wasn’t the case, we intend to build a company that we never need to or want to sell. I’m 40. I love what we are working on and as far as I can see, there is nothing else I would rather do for the rest of my life.","_key":"57c6066f22080"}]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"We don’t want to grow at all costs.","_key":"49c7d81eb7490","_type":"span","marks":["strong"]},{"marks":[],"text":" The math of VC funding implies that it’s all about big winners and the majority of the companies they invest in do not matter in the end. So it’s only natural that VCs advise and expect companies to maximize their growth potential. The downside is that it can push some companies over the edge when they could have thrived growing more slowly.","_key":"49c7d81eb7491","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"4ea258a57c07"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Even when the company doesn’t crash, a growth-above-all mentality can be unhealthy. It cultivates a highly data-driven decision culture, and pushes aside more qualitative aspects of decision making, such as moral beliefs, cultural impact, mission, and so on.","_key":"af2fb7357e7c0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6967bc7b3186"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Another common trap is that because of the pressure to grow, companies end up hiring faster than the culture and structures can absorb. It’s also too easy to hire more people than the company really needs. In the worst case, people get laid off. It all ends up damaging the culture and morale.","_key":"9ee61136465b0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"f7a517122e9e","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"913c4e6e2b160","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"On the other hand, bootstrapping affords us the opportunity to grow in a more balanced way. We have strong moral principles and a mission that is more important than improving any single metric. We prefer to take our time with growing the team and would rather slow down than add people faster than we feel comfortable."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6018121ea787"},{"style":"normal","_key":"de9d5254bc77","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":["strong"],"text":"The risk profiles for founders and VCs are not symmetric.","_key":"ca526565dc300","_type":"span"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" Startup founders invest years of their lives in the company. There’s zero diversification for them. It’s very different for VCs who have a portfolio of companies. This means that pushing founders to take bigger risks isn’t particularly risky to VCs. Such asymmetry can lead to lasting conflicts that don’t exist in bootstrapped companies.","_key":"ca526565dc301"}],"_type":"block"},{"style":"normal","_key":"615954dbf1ff","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"(To be fair, it’s not uncommon for company founders to diversify by selling some of their stock to VCs. Although it usually happens in the latter stages and many companies don’t ever get there.)","_key":"3f75794392840"}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Overall risk of failure of a bootstrapped company is lower.","_key":"098050c2d8980"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" Bootstrapped businesses are not easy to get started. It can take a significant amount of time to get to enough recurring revenue to become sustainable.","_key":"098050c2d8981"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b11f9d41f460","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"The upside of bootstrapping is that once you are profitable, the risk goes way down. Since funded startups are under pressure to maximize growth, profitability takes a back seat. 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Whether we raise outside funding or not is just an attribute. It does not define us.","_key":"a5dc13f10ecb3"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"aa9f9b1ba64b","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://medium.com/strong-words/real-businesses-b21f44c99b6a","_key":"8c77f86727b8"}]},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"16b18f0f1952","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"We want to minimize the risk that our product will disappear in a few years.","_key":"2bcd2d24e40e0"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" Nobody wants a product that they rely on daily to vanish. But that unfortunately happens all the time. Remember Sunrise? Or Mailbox? Or Smyte?","_key":"2bcd2d24e40e1"}]},{"style":"normal","_key":"add588377fd6","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"As described earlier, the dynamics of VC-funded startups make such an outcome quite likely. At Whimsical we want to build a lasting product. 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As much as possible, be on the same page here.","_key":"f0f1de69ce9c0"}]},{"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"14bf99375e07","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Your co-founder(s) should care deeply about what they do and be fully committed to the success of the company.","_key":"a933290912620","_type":"span"}]},{"listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"It’s really beneficial if they have a strong complementary skill set to yours.","_key":"6a8dc9f776d90","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"9194d198cdfb"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"a54984bf62ca","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"bff9ac98220d0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"You should be able to collaborate easily and make hard decisions together."}],"level":1},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"118f7d1225d0","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Past startup experience is a huge plus.","_key":"69a12456b58d0"}],"level":1},{"_key":"e2fc58824189","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Founder conflict is one of the biggest sources of startup failure. Put yourself on a good path.","_key":"0cbd328208c50"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"2. Find a topic that excites you and is well-suited to you.","_key":"e0dd37ffefb60"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"79e9b5e58583"},{"listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"A friend once told me that a good test for whether a startup topic might be a good fit for you is if you’d want to start a blog on that topic, even if you weren’t being paid to do it. It’s amazing how true this has been. You need to be passionate about the subject matter because you literally think, talk, and write about it constantly! If you’re only mildly interested, it’s going to get tiresome.","_key":"e7992218c1c70"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"22754f22a022"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"7148104eaa97","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Try to find a good fit for your skills. The core work of a business can be drastically different depending on the product and the business model. For instance, Whimsical is a collaboration tool that helps you do flowcharts, wireframes, sticky note exercises, and more. The work of building the product involves tons of UI and interaction design and this is something Kaspars and I really enjoy. The last company we worked for had an API for developers. The bulk of the “work” was quite different in that case. Play to your strengths and interests.","_key":"fa118b1ebeea0"}],"level":1},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"3. 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I’m constantly amazed by it.","_key":"a4cdf0c2b70c0"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"8a9b000b110a"},{"style":"normal","_key":"6bf351e3c612","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"You figure you’ll exhaust the number of people or companies in your market. In reality, for early-stage startups in a sizable market, you’ve only scratched the surface. And to add to that, loads of new people enter the workforce each year. New startups are being formed all the time. It’s likely that quite a few of your future customers are from companies that haven’t even been founded yet!","_key":"576ed39984c20"}],"level":1,"_type":"block"},{"listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"04ca8de623650","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The world is so big it even has more than one hemisphere. Who knew! 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There’s a lot that’s shared by people in general but especially those working in the digital and tech space.","_key":"022f12e4df820"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"f6b908e8be5e","listItem":"bullet"},{"style":"normal","_key":"b49703f4e866","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Your product is capable of bringing together a diverse group of people from all corners of the globe. They will all have a shared experience with your product and a small community is formed. Scalable products are fun that way.","_key":"7ce3cdb18ef60"}],"level":1,"_type":"block"},{"style":"h3","_key":"3b61d72991f0","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"6. “Being your own boss” is pretty fantastic.","_key":"58a6265a78cf0"}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"It is a game-changer knowing that you share in the potential success (and of course failure) of your company. Your upside is whatever you make it. This is both liberating and invigorating.","_key":"d668527146f20"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6e152a1aef80","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[]},{"style":"normal","_key":"77a4f2270803","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"There are no politics and no “rules.” As long as there’s trust between you and your co-founder(s), do whatever you think is best. There is a refreshing simplicity to it.","_key":"e7e48c2b58e40"}],"level":1,"_type":"block"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"You can fit your work to your desired lifestyle. Want to work from the road as you’re traveling with your family—why not? As long as you can be productive, there aren’t many limitations. For instance, my family will be spending a month in Spain and Portugal this fall. I’m bringing my laptop and will work during the week days. We get to see a different part of the world. Win win!","_key":"f9bed50a0aa00"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"0c689fa446dc","listItem":"bullet"},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"You have an amazing opportunity to create a culture around what you value and to share that with others who join you.","_key":"9f4d5d288cf60","_type":"span"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"e294a4ffe32a","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[]},{"style":"h3","_key":"d7f2dabd9c4a","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"7. Early stage startups are very pure.","_key":"a70ae3eb7d760"}],"_type":"block"},{"style":"normal","_key":"13f3c5665a96","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"There are no meetings. Sure, you may set up times to talk with customers. Or you may have a collaborative work session with your co-founder(s). But it’s almost entirely ad hoc, efficient, and focused.","_key":"b8ff14e4f8bd0"}],"level":1,"_type":"block"},{"_key":"51349cb9f180","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"So this means that there’s plenty of maker time 🙌🏼","_key":"1505bc2ae72c0","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"6cb958502897","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"But at the same time, the work you do on a daily and weekly basis hits a ton of different categories. It keeps you on your toes.","_key":"5454a3f0b82f0","_type":"span"}]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Successes and failures are visceral. You are tightly connected to your startup. Seeing upgrades come in and having people say nice things on Twitter is incredible. 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More users and customers means more feedback, more bugs discovered, and more feature requests. All of this makes it even harder to keep moving fast.","_key":"01d8725d39150"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_key":"4b2c5d955de3","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"9. Build something people love.","_key":"707fd7b4fc070","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3"},{"listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"http://www.ycombinator.com/","_key":"a21db91df8e4"},{"_key":"302a86b20d1a","_type":"link","href":"http://www.paulgraham.com/articles.html"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"We didn’t go through ","_key":"c8c84ae6eec30"},{"text":"YC","_key":"c8c84ae6eec31","_type":"span","marks":["a21db91df8e4"]},{"text":" but this truly is a helpful mantra. Create something that makes people’s lives better, that gives them joy, and the revenue will follow. 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It’s core to our decision making process and actively guides the trajectory of the product.","_key":"36094413cf1b2","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Speed is impacted by a range of decisions. There are high-level structural choices (like using ","_key":"2aa6a3e34ae90"},{"text":"contextual toolbars","_key":"2aa6a3e34ae91","_type":"span","marks":["671f70e84a55"]},{"marks":[],"text":") that define core interactions and patterns in the app. And at the other end of the spectrum, there are many small, micro-decisions like keyboard shortcuts and auto-focused search inputs that can be just as vital to the overall speed of use. This post is about some of the tiny details that we optimized in ","_key":"2aa6a3e34ae92","_type":"span"},{"text":"Whimsical Wireframes","_key":"2aa6a3e34ae93","_type":"span","marks":["594abc1386f2"]},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" in an effort to create the fastest wireframing app ever.","_key":"2aa6a3e34ae94"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b42e15f08f87","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/blog/contextual-toolbars-deep-dive","_key":"671f70e84a55"},{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/wireframes","_key":"594abc1386f2"}]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"First, I’ll explain a couple of key insights that led us to these decisions. Then I’ll break down all the details that went into optimizing the shortcuts.","_key":"fc592de32a990"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"e70e4130178a"},{"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-dade6ae9e62e714431487f661491b3809523c528-1940x380-png","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Whimsical's four products (flowcharts, wireframes, sticky notes, mind maps)","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"bb6c05829d2b","imageTheme":"thinBorder"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"2f72d9c86977","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Key Insight #1 – Unbundling the wireframing app unlocks possibilities.","_key":"2c1616fa7b6d0"},{"marks":[],"text":"‍","_key":"2c1616fa7b6d1","_type":"span"}]},{"children":[{"_key":"0b8bd3eea4960","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"There are a vast number of different activities that can be done on a whiteboard. When bringing these into the digital realm with a visual communication tool, it can be tempting to try to do it all on one board. I mean, that’s how it happens in real life. It’s only logical to replicate this with a digital tool, right?"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"522f5ae866f2","markDefs":[]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The problem is that each of the activities is unique. Flowcharts are primarily working with shapes that are connected by lines. Wireframes make use of a totally different set of objects placed within the constraints of device frames like a phone. Sticky notes are yet again unique in the way they are organized and used. When you try to cram all of this into one interface, you are forced to sub-optimize for each use case so that the tool can cover the entire gamut of activities.","_key":"2a06011865fe0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"a87922c50ad7","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com/flowcharts","_key":"11da4f36caa4"}],"children":[{"text":"We built ","_key":"fa13c58e049f0","_type":"span","marks":[]},{"marks":["11da4f36caa4"],"text":"Flowcharts","_key":"fa13c58e049f1","_type":"span"},{"marks":[],"text":" in Whimsical first. Our focus was on building the very best flowcharting experience possible. When it came time to work on our second product, Wireframes, we made a high-level structural decision to unbundle this app from the first one. The reason we did this is simple. If you were trying to build the best wireframing app that you possibly could, would you start by building it on top of an existing flowcharting app? No. Many of the decisions that were made in that flowcharting app were for flowcharting! It would be like building with one arm tied behind your back.","_key":"fa13c58e049f2","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"25f2770bd766"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Unbundling the wireframing app unlocked possibilities. It allowed the wireframing app to be uniquely crafted to that activity alone.","_key":"a595e207d1f80"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b8b09d97d569"},{"imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"d957f395b592","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-b3a1cb3e491627e7fdf3858561f62647d20734ec-2224x592-png","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Wireframe-specific shortcuts for elements like buttons, text inputs, images, and more"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"c477fb8e8591","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Key Insight #2 – Using wireframe-specific shortcuts is advantageous.","_key":"a7fe54e41436"}]},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"4426e3d611b6","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"‍","_key":"0b21e7be51a20"},{"marks":[],"text":"As a direct result of the decision to unbundle the wireframing app and let it stand alone, we were able to operate with much more freedom. We were starting with a blank slate. Our goal was clear and unhindered – just build the best wireframing app possible.","_key":"0b21e7be51a21","_type":"span"}]},{"style":"normal","_key":"97cba7b02be1","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Operating within this freedom, we realized that we could create an entire set of wireframe-specific shortcuts. “B” for button. “A” for avatar. “D” for divider. We mapped the most fundamental and frequently used elements to keyboard shortcuts so that access to them would be immediate. No climbing through nested menus or scrolling through dozens of elements.","_key":"5503788b5b090","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block"},{"imageLayout":"pageWidth","_key":"5b10c1cf0e4a","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-e84ee1889c1b83f0f2c9dd91030c6bbf7b832c73-4096x1420-png","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Most shortcuts are clustered around the left hand while the right hand is on the mouse"},{"style":"normal","_key":"726c24fed872","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Key Insight #3 – Clustering the core shortcuts around the left hand is most efficient.","_key":"1870e4ce7fd70"}],"_type":"block"},{"_key":"42e062c463a3","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"‍","_key":"5078a31bac9d0"},{"text":"As cool as wireframe specific shortcuts are, we didn’t stop there. We intentionally mapped as many shortcuts to the left-handed keys as we could. The reason we did this is because the vast majority of people use the mouse with their right hand. And when they do this, they typically have their left hand resting in the home position on the keyboard. This means the fastest and most immediate access to the keyboard is with the left hand.","_key":"5078a31bac9d1","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_key":"305c4fe70706","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_type":"reference","_ref":"image-8187efe8c81d2bc0507006acb8cfda766510a249-3592x1144-png"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Overview of Wireframe keyboard shortcuts color-coded by category","imageLayout":"pageWidth"},{"style":"h3","_key":"5e38c6248b68","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Breaking Down the Shortcuts in Whimsical Wireframes","_key":"4d7098c4f5da0","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"718b850201cb","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"There are three categories of shortcuts in Whimsical Wireframes.","_key":"fd4efd1c06d40"}]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"44ace508a8b10","_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"1. Standard:"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" These are the shortcuts found in almost all the design apps and have therefore come to be expected. 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A big part of actually achieving this is making sure our toolbars and controls are thoughtful, consistent, and therefore extremely intuitive. Given that, here are a few of the things we thought about as we designed the contextual toolbars in our app.","_key":"2fe23082d3050","_type":"span","marks":[]}]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Starting with Text","_key":"793d01c63dc80"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"1d29b3b26fb7","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Text is a fundamental building block inside Whimsical. In fact, it’s found in the toolbars of all the other objects. The controls here should look pretty familiar. 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In general, we’ve found them to be needed when there are more than four or five options. We stretched this for text sizes because we felt it was important to have instant access to them.","_key":"d039d1427e600","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"d87e232c8410","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Categories of Controls","_key":"eb529fabcf380"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"82553d9047ab"},{"style":"normal","_key":"d53a47fbf85a","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"6f2860325b570","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"When we take a step back and categorize these controls, we’re basically working with object-specific controls and global controls."}],"_type":"block"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Object (text): size, style, alignment, color","_key":"ab9d49e4291f0"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"ffc9df9b6aa4","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Global: duplicate object, add comment, deselect object","_key":"65e6700131580"}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"a49a2eee88a6","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[]},{"_type":"richImage","alt":"Sections of contextual toolbars include Object controls on the left and Global controls on the right","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"43bae7cefae7","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-fa1b7bdde7af0f039a7afafca8baff4fdbf40f9b-1210x400-png","_type":"reference"}}},{"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"69ccb6b3d72a","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Shapes","_key":"6fd46e4023de0"}]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Ramping up the complexity a bit, here’s what the shape toolbar looks like. We have the same Object and Global controls but now we also have the collapsed text controls on the left.","_key":"b62186102c640"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"27c065e0fcb4","markDefs":[]},{"imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"asset":{"_ref":"image-c707e27c494fe73ff59e74a4e76178d0b866db1e-912x400-png","_type":"reference"},"_type":"image"},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Contextual toolbars for shapes have three categories of controls including Text, Object, and Global.","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"f0393865d699"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"14564759eec9","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_key":"68bca954d62c0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Here’s the detailed breakdown of each element. In this case, there are two popup multi-selects – one for color and the other for shape."}]},{"imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"asset":{"_ref":"image-114978327b8efe196d8bafab5bf7e23408fa0e8e-1142x780-png","_type":"reference"},"_type":"image"},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Exploded view of shape contextual toolbar showing all options","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"428022b3b213"},{"children":[{"_key":"ee8070fa40da0","_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"To access the text controls, you can press Enter on the keyboard or just click on the “T” icon."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"9fcfd1b463cd","markDefs":[]},{"style":"normal","_key":"039680975347","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Essentially, we’ve inserted the entire text toolbar one level deeper inside of the other toolbars. 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Whimsical is the visual workspace for teams – flowcharts, diagrams, wireframes, mind maps, all sorts of visual work.","_key":"e83541bcb11a0","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_key":"5d81ce2cceb2","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Here are a few choices we made to maximize speed.","_key":"86460e275e880"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"d9c837e504d7","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Contextual Toolbars","_key":"f852e603c8880"}]},{"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-792aface09b850c052b87f8f3e2098e4bcf3bfe0-790x458-png","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Example of a contextual toolbar for a rectangle shape in Whimsical","_key":"a3b288345b0d","imageTheme":"thinBorder"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"What I mean by a “contextual toolbar” is simply a toolbar that appears right next to the object you’re working on. So, for instance, the contextual toolbar for shapes in Whimsical looks like what you see above.","_key":"4c7f485937ea0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"7c5fc25c9ae2","markDefs":[]},{"style":"h4","_key":"41dc4d3a98f9","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The Benefits of Contextual Toolbars","_key":"d87c975e53920"}],"_type":"block"},{"_key":"fdcf59fd66b7","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"1. Less screen clutter.","_key":"49992b01ebd40"},{"marks":[],"text":" It’s become a fairly standard practice in app design to load up two or three edges of the screen with toolbars full of icons. Our main toolbar only has 6 icons in it. Here’s a visual comparison showing the number of clickable items in the main working screen of a few apps:","_key":"49992b01ebd41","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"image":{"asset":{"_ref":"image-10e7fc3681a2ccc82d1a942097d06648e3c13eaf-2400x960-png","_type":"reference"},"_type":"image"},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Number of Clickable Elements: Google Docs (27), Lucidchart (27), Sketch (23), Whimsical (6)","_key":"feaaeb245cee","imageTheme":"thinBorder"},{"style":"normal","_key":"2f8e2305cf15","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Google Docs:","_key":"010edb4b6f310"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" 27 clickable items in the main toolbar and 45 total on the screen","_key":"010edb4b6f311"}],"level":1,"_type":"block"},{"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"3bc3344a389e","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Lucidchart:","_key":"e06314da32760"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" 27 clickable items in the main toolbar and 105(!) total on the screen","_key":"e06314da32761"}]},{"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"f35c09b09b80","listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"marks":["strong"],"text":"Sketch:","_key":"5b747b45e2300","_type":"span"},{"text":" 23 clickable items in the main toolbar and 53 total on the screen","_key":"5b747b45e2301","_type":"span","marks":[]}]},{"listItem":"bullet","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Whimsical:","_key":"54ee054836410"},{"text":" 6 clickable items in the main toolbar and 16 total on the screen","_key":"54ee054836411","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"level":1,"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"b05d87504700"},{"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"The reason we can get away with so few icons is that each of our objects has a contextual toolbar that houses all of its controls.","_key":"d0d46c6f327e0","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"1f1153d4450a","markDefs":[]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"2. You only see relevant controls.","_key":"f8d70da3fe790"},{"text":" Each toolbar is tailored to the object you’re working on and therefore, ","_key":"f8d70da3fe791","_type":"span","marks":[]},{"_type":"span","marks":["d994ce9454ea"],"text":"cognitive overhead","_key":"f8d70da3fe792"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" is significantly reduced. You don’t have to learn which icons are available and which are disabled for each particular scenario. This is exactly what happens in traditional big-toolbar apps. Most icons are visible the entire time but depending on what you have selected, certain icons that aren’t relevant will be disabled. So in each new scenario, you need to spend the time processing which actions are actually available. This is not helpful if you’re trying to move fast.","_key":"f8d70da3fe793"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"fe011fecff23","markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://techcrunch.com/2013/04/20/cognitive-overhead/","_key":"d994ce9454ea"}]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"3. The actions are closer to where you’re working.","_key":"a0262e66bee50"},{"text":" Not only are you just seeing relevant controls, you also don’t need to move your mouse across the entire screen to reach them. Have you noticed how much inefficiency of motion there is when you place toolbars along the far edges of the screen? Closer actions mean you can spend less time traversing the screen and more time on your content.","_key":"a0262e66bee51","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"a2f1120c1305"},{"_type":"richImage","alt":"Distance to controls in Whimsical vs Sketch","imageLayout":"pageWidth","_key":"a8a8dd44e5d1","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-cf6f29021bd8c55dac44fd3f2d29a53684aaf6f6-5360x1556-png","_type":"reference"}}},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"4. Onboarding for new users is more gradual and less intimidating.","_key":"0643e46ac36d0"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" Contextual toolbars allow the user to be more gradually introduced to the controls. You can start with just a few primary objects. As you add each one, you start to see what’s available for each. Since the options are tailored to the object, they only require a small amount of mental processing to understand. In contrast, think about someone opening up Sketch (or even worse, Photoshop) for the first time. You are greeted by an abundance of icons that you then need to digest and decipher what each one does. Some create new objects, some manipulate existing objects, some aren’t applicable until you do other actions first. It’s more complicated and it’s both harder and slower to get started.","_key":"0643e46ac36d1"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"e37ace15bb89"},{"_key":"c8610a3983f1","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"Less Choice","_key":"09ffc40266e20","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"h3"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Another decision we made to increase speed was to limit the number of choices available. This both enables and enhances the benefits of the contextual toolbars.","_key":"a8a76bb821e10"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"dff28bd07c3b","markDefs":[]},{"style":"normal","_key":"2d5ded93d32e","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"You only get a few basic objects to work with.","_key":"cbc809d61ec30","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"898b5cb1f338","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"You get just enough colors and styles for objects, which is really not many.","_key":"03dd6dec8b9c0"}]},{"_key":"47c205e16433","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Text styles are similarly scoped down. You can choose between t-shirt sizes. You don’t need to think about whether you’re using font size 34 or 36. 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Optimizing for them means significant gains in speed.","_key":"0cbf4678384f0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"f85b479bf340"},{"children":[{"text":"Quick and efficient connecting of objects.","_key":"0ee8838871ac0","_type":"span","marks":["strong"]},{"marks":[],"text":" This is the bread and butter of flowcharts and sitemap diagrams. You need to connect objects, often in a hierarchical structure. For these use cases, we added “Quick Add” buttons around each object, allowing you to connect objects with remarkable speed.","_key":"0ee8838871ac1","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"9052e34ba814","markDefs":[]},{"alt":"Quick Add buttons help you create hierarchical diagrams extremely quickly","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"db98571e4e22","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"asset":{"_ref":"image-223f39e5372c052a5fe85f4f6962c05061c090da-1256x682-gif","_type":"reference"},"_type":"image"},"_type":"richImage"},{"_key":"84136863d600","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Easy access to a robust set of icons.","_key":"945f2b36432d0"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" It’s quite common in diagrams to add icons in order to communicate more effectively or to spruce up the visuals. It’s nice to have consistency and also not have to take the time to create them yourself. This is why we added thousands of vector icons to Whimsical that are literally a click away. Not only are there a ton of them, they are all searchable, infinitely scalable, and they can be styled however you want. You can change the color. And you can also change the style between solid, outline, and full color.","_key":"945f2b36432d1"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_type":"reference","_ref":"image-25e9cc2417650751aa6b1f5ad8da7bf4fb4f625e-1520x550-gif"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Robust set of icons that are searchable, scalable, and can be styled.","imageLayout":"contentWidth","_key":"6acb51f6a4a0"},{"style":"normal","_key":"f325d8902e62","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Another sweet feature about these icons is that they are responsive. At small sizes, they are streamlined and simple. 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Then we figured out how we could achieve this look in our app. Many of these details are subtle – the shapes have slighted rounded corners, as do the connectors. We added a slight drop shadow to the solid shapes. We selected a versatile, workhorse font. The hope with all of this is that the focus can be on ideas and not all of the extraneous details that go into “designing” a diagram."}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"7dab2c676155"},{"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"8472ec057229","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"One Last Word","_key":"3953c54f98b80"}]},{"markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://www.dropbox.com/paper","_key":"ea990dadc37a"}],"children":[{"marks":[],"text":"Please note, I’m not saying that every app should have contextual toolbars and limit styling options. These were intentional tradeoffs we made because we were optimizing for speed. 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Then you realize that things could have been a little faster and easier to use all along.","_key":"717874b648ff2"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"24179abab026"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Our goal with Whimsical is to enable ideas and content to flow onto the screen faster than ever before so that you can collaborate visually with your teammates.","_key":"fdb4fdf5b27b0"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"3a49e7a6aed1"}],"metaDescription":"How contextual toolbars, less choice, and optimization for common actions makes Whimsical super fast to use for flowcharts, wireframes, sticky notes, and mind maps.","slug":{"current":"how-we-designed-whimsical-for-speed","_type":"slug"},"title":"How we designed Whimsical for speed","author":{"name":"Steve Schoeffel","title":"Chief Creative Officer","xUrl":"https://twitter.com/SteveSchoeffel","githubUrl":null,"image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-ebdc04332bf16f80be524957e71150c582bc14ff-340x340-jpg","_type":"reference"}},"instagramUrl":null,"linkedinUrl":"https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveschoeffel"},"blogCategories":[{"_id":"b741cef2-1a87-40ac-aa0b-8c8856375272","title":"Design","slug":{"current":"design"}}],"_id":"14822f65-135a-4416-91a4-3bf181e94610","legacyThumbnailImage":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-19f3a40b5077dbf243672eda0c5893e98be8f1f9-680x560-png","_type":"reference"}},"publishedAt":"2018-03-14T05:48:00.000Z","subtitle":"Because nobody has time for slow software.","top":null,"blogResources":null},{"metaDescription":"It's all about balance. 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The plan was to build a tool that would let people collaborate on ideas visually in a way that’s simple and enjoyable. A bit like Dropbox Paper but you get flowcharts and wireframes instead of plain text.","_key":"7b1c33d3d5e62"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"742a4e247302","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"Visual collaboration is not an entirely novel idea, of course, but the existing tools were all cumbersome and uninspiring. So I set out to build the opposite – fast, simple and with obsessive focus on thoughtful design.","_key":"2dbd451939a60","_type":"span","marks":[]}]},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"It also made a lot of sense to apply the same ethos to our tech stack:","_key":"e2c3ec4448940"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"88f23e3cbdf1","markDefs":[]},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Fast.","_key":"fadcf653a9e10"},{"marks":[],"text":" You want to move as fast as possible with a small team. Speed is the ultimate startup advantage, and vice versa, being slower than other companies is the surest way to go out of business.","_key":"fadcf653a9e11","_type":"span"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"3ed08af0e6db"},{"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Simple.","_key":"19c87644f27f0"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" Tools that have less features are easier to understand fully and are less likely to break. In contrast, complex tools will often be half-understood. Which in turn will lead to mistakes and surprising issues. Which in turn will slow you down.","_key":"19c87644f27f1"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"362c25235090","markDefs":[]},{"style":"normal","_key":"87e918854af9","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["strong"],"text":"Thoughtful design.","_key":"6a968a7ba4180"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" Poorly designed tools may seem to do the job at first but will gradually lead you deeper and deeper into a swamp that will be very costly to escape. Which in turn will slow you down.","_key":"6a968a7ba4181"}],"_type":"block"},{"style":"h3","_key":"cabf6fc452f5","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"The Architecture","_key":"39db49de48150"}],"_type":"block"},{"_key":"893f1553cb3b","imageTheme":"thinBorder","image":{"_type":"image","asset":{"_ref":"image-b9b4bcef79d04290a9271a35df36f5ca7ae49226-4400x1922-png","_type":"reference"}},"_type":"richImage","alt":"Whimsical's architecture","link":"https://whimsical.com/Q5patpyGV3RDvkvkx1f6Ck","caption":[{"_key":"3081ab310971","markDefs":[{"href":"https://whimsical.com/Q5patpyGV3RDvkvkx1f6Ck","_key":"12487e9e3e6a","_type":"link"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":["12487e9e3e6a"],"text":"Open in Whimsical","_key":"475aad12e1b6"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"}],"imageLayout":"pageWidth"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Whimsical is a so called single-page web app (SPA). Most of the logic is implemented in the client-side application (“app”) that runs in the browser and syncs updates to the backend (“cloud”) via RPC-style HTTP requests. “Cloud” notifies “app” about updates made by other users via WebSocket.","_key":"0f1f456cc5290"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"7bf76c58e843"},{"_key":"070e705ea384","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"All of the application’s data are stored in a PostgreSQL database. This gives us the comfort of ACID properties, while leaving a lot of room to scale, especially now that AWS provides a PostgresSQL-compatible Aurora variant. We also use Redis for publishing and subscribing to events, as well as storage of transient data such as who is currently viewing a particular doc.","_key":"8f51496597aa0","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"_key":"fcde96dfd6f2","markDefs":[],"children":[{"text":"Finally there’s a tiny service (“imager”) we built for generating thumbnails via a headless Chrome.","_key":"68a78fd0e2ed0","_type":"span","marks":[]}],"_type":"block","style":"normal"},{"markDefs":[{"_type":"link","href":"https://whimsical.com","_key":"945037f60ad3"}],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"All of the services and data stores run in Amazon’s WebServices. On the public Internet side, we have an Application Load Balancer (ALB) that distributes all requests to ","_key":"ab73164a84c60"},{"_type":"span","marks":["945037f60ad3"],"text":"whimsical.com","_key":"ab73164a84c61"},{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":" to a cluster of NGINX instances (“edge”). From there, “edge” routes the requests to either “cloud” or Amazon’s S3 for static resources, such as website or images. Since there are multiple instances of “cloud” running, it also has an internal load balancer in front of it.","_key":"ab73164a84c62"}],"_type":"block","style":"normal","_key":"13e9b8fa2da9"},{"markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"Clojure and ClojureScript","_key":"5bf40e01f0ff0"}],"_type":"block","style":"h3","_key":"bb4e7686244b"},{"_key":"869d6eaee18e","markDefs":[],"children":[{"_type":"span","marks":[],"text":"One of the most far reaching tech decisions a startup needs to make is what programming language(s) to use. For example, Facebook to this day runs mostly on Hack, a language that is derived from PHP that Facebook got started with. 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