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Having a whiteboard is critical to brainstorming and thinking things through. If you never use a whiteboard, you may be tempted to skip this step, but now is a perfect time to change that!
The main constraint of a whiteboard is wall space. The material can matter, but a standard whiteboard tends to work pretty well. There are plenty of whiteboards that are much more expensive, as they are made of a different material to fit specific aesthetics. These are often worse whiteboards so will not be recommended here.
My fundamental recommendation is to get the largest standard whiteboard for your space.
| Product | Cost | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Staples Standard Durable Melamine Dry-Erase Whiteboard | $145 for 5'x3' to $273 for 8'x4' | On Site |
You should always buy high-end EXPO markers because the off-brand ones are significantly worse, and the good ones cost $8.
| Product | Cost | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Expo Marker Set | $8 | On Amazon |
A small whiteboard is very affordable, and 3'x2' gives you plenty of space to write and brainstorm.
| Product | Cost | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Staples Standard Durable Melamine Dry-Erase Whiteboard | $41 for 3'x2' | On Site |
For a smaller whiteboard, you will want finer tip whiteboard markers so that you can get an equivalent level of detail that you would have with a larger whiteboard.
| Product | Cost | Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Expo Fine Tip Marker Set | $9 | On Amazon |
Find a place off to the side of your workspace to place your whiteboard. It should be visible from your computer such that you can easily reference it or convert it into a more formal diagram/model. Ideally, it should be stably wall-mounted using standard mounting hardware (generally supplied with the whiteboard). The smaller the whiteboard, the closer it should be to where you work.
Pretty much everything you can whiteboard can be recorded and checked into version control using PlantUML. Component diagrams, state diagrams and sequence diagrams can be a fantastic next step in distilling what you have on your whiteboard. If you want to get really advanced with it, you can even turn it into a checkable formal model
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