Challenge

During my time at InVision, Freehand was a powerful collaboration tool but user engagement—especially among first-time users—presented an opportunity for growth. We wanted to make the platform experience more fun and approachable, helping users break the ice and feel comfortable collaborating in real-time.

Solution

I spearheaded the creation of a diverse set of custom, interactive game and icebreaker templates using only native Freehand functionality. While I personally developed the majority of these templates, my team actively collaborated on several key concepts and designs to ensure a broad and engaging library. These templates leveraged shapes, groups, tables, polls, spinners, GIFs, and more to craft playful activities such as:

• Classic games like Tic Tac Toe, Connect 4, Checkers, Battleship (with distinct ships built from grouped shapes)
• Brain teasers challenging users to spot patterns or count shapes
• Interactive activities like emoji movie/TV guessing games and “two truths and a lie”
• Fun word puzzles like InVision-themed Word Search

We made these templates public, integrated them into internal team and external client icebreakers, and recommended them to clients as engaging collaboration starters—enhancing the first-use experience and encouraging repeated interaction.

Outcome

• Successfully increased user engagement by introducing playful, interactive elements that encouraged exploration of Freehand’s capabilities.
• Improved first-time user experience by lowering barriers to collaboration and fostering team connection.
• The templates became a well-utilized resource internally and externally, contributing to stronger customer relationships and increased platform stickiness.
• Demonstrated creative problem-solving by maximizing existing product features without additional development effort.

Below are screenshots of some of the templates I created.