Google Docs allows for rich formatting but is more complex than Hackpad, which prioritizes simplicity and real-time collaboration. The document discusses how a remote team of 15 people across time zones switched from Google Docs to Hackpad for collaborative documentation and found that it improved their communication by making document creation faster and discussions more productive. Key uses of Hackpad included to-do lists, content creation, idea discussions, text references, and client communication.

1. Google docs vs Hackpad:
Don’t kill your remote
communication!

2. 123 Ship.it - Why remote
communication is crucial for us:
• 15 people in our team work remotely
• We work in different time zones
• over 5 software projects simultaneously
• every tool that empower our communication is
crucial for us

3. Why we need collaborative
documentation
• specifications,
• discussions,
• important decisions,
• researches,
• content creation,
• ideas,
• asynchronous discussions.

4. Before: Communication and
creating documents in google docs
• GD: free, a lot of features and different document
types, rich text formatting. But...
• ...we created docs only when there was no other
option
• we pushed other channels of communication to the
limit
• Creating a doc seemed to be necessary evil
• Result: communication mess

5. New hope: discovery of
hackpad.com
• you can create text documents,
• share it easily with others,
• edit in realtime,
• link between documents,
• create collections.
• much simpler than googledocs
•

6. After: How communication changed
after switching to hackpad
• With hackpad simplicity we started to create new
docs right away
• It take less than 10 seconds to create new "pad" and
share it with others
• pads often change into long (and productive!)
discussions
• A lot of different hackpads with million of thoughts,
often out-of-date or unnecessary
• We organize all pads on weekly basis

7. Google docs have a lot more
features. Some of them seem
important, but the thruth is
when you start using hackpad
you realize that you don't
need them at all. Simplicity
wins.

8. Hackpad: Lean documentation
• Create often and you will have a lot of unnecessary
documents
• Validate it and just delete not-so-important-ones,
leaving only meaningful reference
• Don't be afraid to write!
• When productive communication just happens, do
not try to cut it down, focus on better organization

9. Hackpad use cases:
• Fast to-do lists. In some cases management tools
(in our case trello) seem too slow and we create
quick to-do lists in pads.
• Content creation. I'm writing these slides
on a hackpad, sharing it with team and editor :)
• Ideas and discussions. When somebody has a new
idea worth considering, we put it in a hackpad and
start to discuss if it makes any sense.

10. Hackpad use cases:
• Text references. Every valuable piece of text about
any of our projects is added to project collection.
• Every piece of text that need to be written down fast
- after inspiring meetings or customer interviews. If
it's valuable, we move it further (for example to the
spreadsheet with customer interviews).
• Small texts that can be changed by others like
meeting agenda.
• Communication with client. It's often more
productive to send link to pad than writing an e-mail
with things about project to discuss. Trust me, it's
faster and more effective.

11. Thanks!
Visit us at blog.123ship.it