Using canvas layout
Canvas layout is a space where you can play around with your data in unstructured ways and identify themes in a fast, lightweight, and flexible way. Once you’ve broken down your interviews or other data into discreet, categorized highlights, you can use canvas layout to cluster similar content together, refine your tagging taxonomy (bottom-up or top-down), and create or refine insights.
Table of contents
Set up your canvas
You'll notice a group of objects surrounded by a dotted line. This is called the staging area, and it is where all objects will live before they are committed to a place on the canvas.
The staging area can be moved around at anytime by clicking and dragging from the dotted line.
See all content with zoom to fit
If you ever get lost in canvas, or want to see all of your content within your window, click on Zoom to fit at the bottom right of your screen.
This button will automatically navigate you and adjust your zoom level to ensure you can see all of the content on the canvas.
Zoom in and out
There are several ways you can zoom in and out canvas layout.
Using the zoom menu:
See the zoom menu in the bottom right corner? It’s your friend! Use the - button to zoom out, and the + button to zoom in. Using this control, you can also select a pre-set zoom level or type your desired zoom level.
Using your keyboard to zoom: Use the + and - keys on your keyboard to zoom in and out.
Using your mouse: Use the scroll wheel or touch scroll on your mouse to zoom in and out.
Using your trackpad: Pinch fingers together to zoom out and move away from one another to zoom in.
Pan the canvas
Using the pan tool: Hold down the spacebar on your keyboard or click on the pan tool (hand icon) in the left-hand menu, then click and drag any point in your canvas to pan.
Using a trackpad: Alternatively, if you use a trackpad, place two fingers on your trackpad and scroll in any direction to pan.
Select and move objects
Choosing the select tool
The select tool (the mouse pointer in the left-hand menu) is selected by default. If you happen to be using a different tool, you can switch back to the select tool by tapping (esc) or (H) on your keyboard.
Selecting single or multiple objects
You can select single objects in canvas by clicking on them. To select multiple objects at once, click on the canvas background and drag a rectangle over the content you want to select. If you already have content selected and want to add a few more things to your selection, hold down SHIFT and click on the content you want to be added.
Moving objects in a canvas
Once you have selected the content you want to move, simply drag it!
Filter to hide specific content
In canvas layout, you can use filters to refine what content is visible so that you can focus your synthesis on a specific area or topic. For example, you might want to conduct synthesis of highlights related to a particular product area rather than all highlights in the project.
As with all views, you can choose to hide or display content by using the Filter button in the top right corner. Filters become even more powerful when you structure your note and insight content using fields. You can read more about fields here.
Here are some examples of filters you could apply:
Filter highlights by tag board or tag group.
Filter content by created date, to only show content from the past month.
Filter by persona (a note or insight field you could have) to analyze data specific to that customer type
Filter content by product area (a note or insight field you could have), to narrow your focus to what matters to you or your stakeholders.
Automatic clustering
Cluster groups of related content on your canvas. Click the button with nothing selected to cluster all the insights or highlights on the canvas, or select content to cluster just that selection. Undo the cluster by clicking the undo button in the toolbar.
Note: cluster is only available on highlight and insight canvases.
Cluster highlights
By Tag
Clusters highlights into groups based on the tag or set of tags applied. For example, highlights tagged only with “Pain points” will be grouped together, while highlights tagged with “Pain points” and “Charts” will be in a separate group. At the moment, it’s not possible for highlights to appear more than once in a canvas - this is something we’re considering as a future improvement.
By Note
Highlights that come from “Note A” will be clustered together in a separate group to “Note B”.
By AI Themes
Clusters highlights into groups based on thematic similarities. This is based solely on the content of your highlights, not the tags or titles. After creating clusters, the AI will also generate titles for each group.
Cluster insights
By published status
Groups published insights separately to draft insights.
Adjusting parameters when clustering by AI themes
When clustering by AI themes, you can use the Adjust button to change the parameters or to try again.
Advanced parameters
Granularity: A lower granularity will look for broader themes, while a higher granularity will look for more specific ones.
For example, if you had highlights of inanimate objects, a lower granularity could result in clusters for vehicles, food, and furniture, while a higher granularity may create clusters of cars, boats, vegetables, fruits, chairs, and tables.
Fit: How well something should fit to be included in a cluster.
For example, a relaxed fit may include boots in a clothes cluster, while a tighter fit may consider boots as footwear and therefore keep it out of that cluster.
Add text to your canvas
You can add context or label clusters of content in canvas using a textbox. To do this, click on the text button in the floating menu on the left of your screen, and click to place the textbox.
You can change the text size in the text menu and use keyboard shortcut T to create new text boxes.
Add borders around content
You can add borders around related content to visually define clusters of notes, highlights, or insights.
To draw a border, click on the rectangle button in the floating menu on the left of your screen, and drag your mouse to draw your rectangle over the canvas.
Create or refine your taxonomy using a canvas layout
Canvas layout can be a great space to create or refine a bottoms-up taxonomy. Depending on the type of research you’re conducting, your analysis process might begin by coding data with broad tags, and refining them as you begin to understand more discreet themes.
After initially highlighting and tagging your data, create a highlight canvas, and form groups of related highlights by using the Cluster button, or by manually dragging highlights around. Then, select a group of highlights and, in the menu that appears at the bottom of your screen, select “Add tag” and create a new tag, or search for an existing tag to apply. You can also remove a tag by clicking the ••• button in the same menu, then clicking “Remove tag”, and searching for the tag you want to remove.
Add content to insights from your canvas
Once you’ve mapped your content into groups, you may want to add a group to an insight. To do this:
Select content you want to add to an insight.
In the menu that appears at the bottom of your screen, select “Add to insight”.
Choose an existing insight, or create a new one.
Afterward, a message will appear in the bottom right corner, with a link to the insight you a and modify how your newly added content is displayed. Read more about insights here.
Canvas layout is a great tool for online collaboration with stakeholders and teammates. For example, our product managers sometimes use canvas layout with stakeholders, or a team of developers to help everyone build context on customer needs and pain points.
Actions performed by one user will apply to everyone on the canvas, so if you decide to filter or cluster, everyone will have the same experience. Full visibility cursors mean that you can see where everyone is on the canvas at any given time.
To invite a teammate or stakeholder to collaborate on the canvas:
Click Share
Click Copy link to clipboard
Share the copied link with your collaborator. Note that your teammate will need to have access to Projects to view or edit content.
Follow teammates in canvas
See canvas layout from your teammate's point of view. Track their movements to easily collaborate and get feedback.
Click your teammate's Avatar in the top right then follow along while they move, zoom and edit.
Find content in canvas
Use quick find in canvas to locate the content you're looking for.
Click the search icon in the top right of your canvas
Type in any keywords or phrases
Use the up and down arrows to navigate between results
Export your canvas
At any time, you can export your canvas to PNG by clicking Actions (•••) to the right of your view name in the top panel.
FAQs
What is this dotted line around my canvas content?
The dotted line on your canvas acts as container holding any notes, highlights, or insights you haven't yet moved or clustered (by hand or using the Smart arrange button). We call this area a "staging area", where content sits before it is committed to a place on your Canvas. You can move the staging area around anytime by clicking and dragging from the dotted line.
How does cluster work when I have multiple tags on one highlight?
Currently, the canvas does not support duplicated highlights. A single highlight can only belong to one cluster or group at a time. Cluster automatically arranges your highlights into groups. Each group has a specific tag or combination of tags on the highlight canvas. For example, if you have some highlights tagged as ‘Pain point’ and ‘Charts,’ they will get grouped with other highlights also tagged with both ‘Pain point’ and ‘Charts.’ This cluster will be separate from highlights tagged with just ’Pain point’ or just ‘Charts’.
What happens if I delete something from my canvas?
Deleting an object from canvas will delete it from the project, not just the canvas — so don’t do that unless that’s your intent. If you’d like to zoom in on a particular subset of your data, it’s better to use Filter. Deleting rectangles and text from canvas can be done quickly using your keyboard, but we’ve intentionally made it more difficult to delete content (notes, highlights, insights). To delete content, you first need to select objects, then use the bulk select menu that appears to delete the selected objects.
I've lost my canvas content!
If you think you've lost your canvas content, there are a few potential explanations:
You're looking at the wrong canvas view. Check the other canvas views in your project.
You've accidentally panned away from your work, so the canvas seems blank. Use the Smart arrange button.
You've applied a filter that hides a lot of the previously placed content. Remove any incomplete filters or filters that might be hiding content you want to see.
One of your colleagues has used Smart arrange without you knowing. Ask your colleague to undo their changes.
Poor canvas performance makes it seem like you've lost your work, but the canvas was just taking some time to load. Performance shouldn't be an issue anymore.
Why can't I create or edit an object in my canvas?
If you can't create or edit a canvas object, there are a few possible explanations:
You are assigned a 'viewer' role for the current project or workspace. Contact your workspace's manager or project owner to grant you a 'contributor' role or full access.
You have reached the max number of canvas objects. Currently for performance reasons we allow 1000 text and rectangle objects to exist on a canvas at one time. If you delete unused text boxes and rectangles, you'll be able to create objects again.
You have hit the max character count for a text object. To prevent text objects from growing too large and unwieldy there is a 5000 character limit for a text object. If you wish to add more text, simply create a new text object.
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