Start with clients who love checklists
If you’re even thinking about building a visual process map in Whimsical, it probably means your client has thrown one too many “Where are we on this?” emails into your inbox. Especially if you’re running service-based projects (like campaigns, launches, or rebrands), it doesn’t take long before someone loses the plot on who’s doing what.
I’ve found Whimsical to be kind of a weird middle ground. It’s faster and more flexible than Miro (you won’t rage-quit dragging nodes), but it doesn’t give you the precision of Lucidchart unless you’re okay with slightly wiggly lines. Still, it works. And actually, it works best when you’re building for someone who responds better to visual checklists than written ones. You know — clients who nod on Zoom calls but forget the next steps the moment you hang up 🙂
So, before doing anything in Whimsical: write down the top 3 to 5 key milestones your client absolutely needs to see. That’s your skeleton. Then backfill tasks under each one.
Use Flowchart mode not Wireframe or Sticky Notes
This is one of those simple interface things that catches people off guard.
Whimsical defaults to different modes (Flowchart, Wireframe, Sticky Notes, Mind Maps). If you’re building a visual process map, you want Flowchart. Not because the other ones can’t be used creatively, but because this one gives you the drag-and-drop steps and arrows that behave in a mostly predictable way.
Wireframe mode is meant for UI mockups and it’s too structured. Sticky Notes gets chaotic fast — the spacing jumps around and lines disconnect for no reason. (Ask me how many times I’ve dragged a grouped yellow sticky over and all the connectors unthreaded themselves ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.)
Flowchart mode gives you:
– The ability to drop shape nodes (circle, rectangle, diamond)
– Snap-to guidelines and magnetic connection points
– Auto-format spacing (but it sometimes nudges things oddly — toggle that off if it’s being annoying)
To switch modes, just click the **board type** dropdown in the top-left corner. Once you’re in Flowchart, you can start with a title node and build downward or left-to-right depending on how your client processes things. For multi-phase projects, horizontal flows usually make more sense. But if your project has dates hanging off certain points, vertical layering keeps that readable.
Create swimlanes for roles or tools
This isn’t a built-in feature — but it’s one of the best hacky tricks I use inside Whimsical whenever team dynamics are involved. Basically: layout a couple horizontal guidelines to fake swimlanes, and label them manually.
Here’s how:
1. Drop a rectangle or line shape at the top of your board and type in the name (like “Client”, “Designer”, “Paid Ads”, etc.)
2. Space each of these labels down vertically with room for mapping underneath
3. Now manually place your process steps under each role, keeping them loosely inside the lane
It’s not exact. Whimsical doesn’t lock these lanes in place or give you rulers. But it works well enough visually if you zoom out to 75%.
This also forces you to be specific. You’ll spot things like “Wait… who sends the launch announcement?” or “Do we have a handoff process when copy is done?”
And don’t worry about spacing being perfect. I’ve had diagrams with crooked arrows pointing to half-overlapping buttons and not a single client noticed. As long as it’s readable and labeled.
Label dependencies and checklist handoffs
You’ll probably get the basic sequence down (Task A → Task B → Task C), but the real benefit of a visual map is surfacing the dependencies. Like…
– You can’t start email design until the brand guide is approved
– Paid ads shouldn’t start until the pixel’s properly installed
– The homepage copy has to be reviewed before the animation can be finalized
In Whimsical, you can use diamond shapes for decisions or blockers. I usually drop a small diamond node and type something like “Design feedback received?” — then draw two arrows: one for “Yes → Next step” and one for “No → Loop back”
Additionally, I like to use dashed lines (instead of solid connectors) between tasks that aren’t in strict sequence but still related. You can change connector types by clicking on the line and choosing from the context menu that pops up.
These dependency markers have saved me from at least three awkward conversations where the client assumed that launching a landing page automatically included copy, dev, design, testing, and hosting. (No, Mary. It doesn’t.) 😛
Add notes directly inside nodes sparingly
Whimsical does one thing sort of oddly: if you add too much text inside a shape node, it just… eats the layout. Like, the shape inflates, the arrows stretch, things start overlapping.
So here’s what I do instead:
– Keep shape node labels short (like “Prep audience list” or “Revise ad headlines”)
– For longer notes, either use text labels right next to the node, or select the node and drop a comment on it
– For recurring reminders or URLs, I use a “note bank” off to the side — literally just a text box outside the map
I once tried to cram half a brief into a Whimsical diagram. You’d think layering it all into one tool would be efficient — but nope. Zooming out made it unreadable and zooming in gave you motion sickness. Clean, short, and labeled wins here.
One quirky moment: Whimsical sometimes resets line styles when duplicating nodes. So if you beautifully formatted something as “rounded arrow with 2px shadow” and copy-paste it — boom, default line style again. Just repick the style from the toolbar. Don’t waste 15 minutes like I did trying to “fix the bug.” It’s not a bug. It’s just annoying.
Send a read-only link first before inviting collaborators
There’s a weird dynamic when you loop clients directly into the editing link right away. Sometimes they start dragging boxes around. Sometimes they accidentally delete nodes while trying to zoom in (yes there’s an undo shortcut but only if they realize they did something). Other times they label shapes with stuff like “can we do this cool” — and then forget to explain what they meant.
The better pattern I’ve found: finish the bones of the process, annotate it, and send a view-only link first.
Then, during a video call (or async Loom if that’s your thing), walk them through it step by step. Use your arrow to highlight the flow, and watch for anywhere they pause, squint, or ask for clarification. Make those adjustments first.
If they really want edit access, fine. But make a duplicate version of the original first — always. I learned this once when a client moved an entire swimlane up 300px and saved. There’s no auto-versioning unless you’re on Whimsical’s paid plan, and ctrl+Z only works if it’s still your active session.
Export the map as PNG or PDF for final handoffs
Even if your client absolutely adored the live Whimsical map (which happens more than you’d think), they will eventually ask for a “final version” or drop it into Notion, ClickUp, or some shared folder. Don’t rely on the share link — just export it.
From the board:
– Click the ••• menu in the top right
– Choose Export → PNG or PDF
PNG works well for embedding in slides or dashboards. PDF is better for printing or if you want to maintain spacing across pages.
Just heads-up: sometimes Whimsical cuts off outer nodes if they extend too far past the canvas edge. Best trick is to zoom out once before exporting and drag your outermost shapes a little inward. Then re-export.
Last time this happened to me, I didn’t notice for two days… and the stakeholder only saw half the purchasing cycle on the final deck 🙂
Quick checklist to recheck before client share
Because sometimes the build goes so fast, you forget small stuff. Here’s what I check:
– Are all arrows pointing in correct direction?
– Any duplicate nodes with same label? (merge them)
– Do all swimlanes have something underneath them?
– Are any sentences awkwardly wrapping or cut off?
– Did I accidentally label anything “test” or “WIP” and forget to change it?
– Did I use more than two types of line connections (keep it consistent)?
– Are there any zombie shapes floating by themselves somewhere?
– Does the export version include everything visually important?
That quick sweep takes maybe 5 minutes but saves you the embarrassment of resharing three versions.
Because nothing says “high trust project” like diagram_v4_FINAL_final_ACTUALLASTNEXT.pdf