Here is our breakdown of the Lucid software suite, which includes the web-based collaboration tools Lucidspark, Lucidchart and Lucidscale.
Recently on SiliconRepublic.com, we looked at brainstorming tech tools, and one of the 13 we included on our list was Lucid – or Lucid’s diagramming app tool Lucidchart. But the maker of Lucidchart has lots of other tools for brainstormers up its sleeve, which we felt inclined to revisit and provide a more in-depth guide.
As well as Lucidchart, the Utah-headquartered software company also makes Lucidspark and Lucidscale. All three products combined under the Lucid banner provide tools like virtual whiteboarding, intelligent diagramming and cloud visualisation. The tools are used by heavy hitters like Google, NBC Universal, T-Mobile and more.
Getting started
All of Lucid’s products are web-based so they each have their own individual websites where you can see how they work and sign up for an account to use them. That means, of course, that you don’t have to use all three if you don’t need, say, a virtual whiteboard.
Lucid, the company, has its own website too and each of the product websites is laid out similarly. So, you’ll see, for example, different headings titled product suite, solutions, resources, company and enterprise across the top banner of the site.
Lucidspark, Lucidchart and Lucidscale are all fully compatible with Slack, Google and Microsoft suites. Once you have created your account on the website, you have the option of signing in with Slack, Google or Microsoft.
Signing up for any of Lucid’s three products is free, but you will have to pay to access premium features. More on the price plans later.
Use cases
If you go on to the main Lucid website, you’ll see information on what different teams in industries from engineering to software development to UX design use the tools for. You’ll also see icons representing tools that the Lucid suite integrates with based on the sector you’re in. Click on the ‘learn more’ part of the use case you’re most interested in to find out how other teams in your sector use the software.
On each website for Lucid’s individual tools, you can also find out how different teams use them; just look for your industry under the resources section on the menu at the top of the webpage.
For companies conscious of their security – and that should be everyone – Lucid has ISO and Privacy Shield certification, among others.
Lucidspark
Lucidspark is a virtual whiteboard tool that is particularly useful for remote teams and people who need to share ideas. How you want to use it is up to you. You can simply opt to brainstorm with your team, using moveable sticky notes, colour-coded cursors and freehand drawing.
And you can avail of some of its more unique features like Breakout Boards, AI prompts and even idea voting. The Breakout Boards feature is particularly good for large teams working on complicated brainstorms; it lets teams split or break out into smaller brainstorming sessions. The smaller boards are then synced back to the main board so teams can share their ideas with the larger group.
The collaborative AI feature is also worth a look. Teams can generate ideas using prompt phrases, summarise ideas and sort ideas. Essentially, it’s a way of getting generative AI to do the work for you.
Lucidchart
Lucidchart is an intelligent diagramming app that assists teams in visualising their data and ideas. It’s more focused on decision-making than Lucidspark, which is mostly about ideas.
Usefully, Lucidspark and Lucidchart both fully integrate with each other and no matter what plan you opt for – paid or free – you can use at least some of their features together.
Among the things you can do on Lucidchart are map data flows, organise scrum teams and create business plans. If you look under the solutions tab, you will see various use cases for it. Like Lucidspark, Lucidchart has AI features, too. It has a ChatGPT plugin and an AI prompting tool that lets teams build diagrams automatically.
Lucidscale
Last, but not least, Lucidscale is a tool that lets organisations visualise and understand their cloud environment. This is useful for cloud optimisation and keeping track of security and data. Lucidscale works with big cloud players like AWS and Microsoft Azure. Users can easily ensure that all teams are aligned with security protocol plans, no matter where they are based.
Pricing plans
You can try Lucidscale for free, but after that, you will be required to pick between two paid plans. The individual plan for single users costs €1,899 per year, while the team plan costs €2,278 per year. The main difference between the two is single users don’t have the sharing data functions that multiple users need.
As we already mentioned, Lucidscale and Lucidspark integrate together. If you want to take out an enterprise package with Lucid, that gives you access to all the premium features on both tools. Prices aren’t listed on any of the websites, there is just a button saying ‘contact sales’.
If you want to use Lucidspark on its own, you can choose between the free plan, the individual plan, the team plan and the enterprise plan. Likewise with Lucidchart. Or you can choose to get both apps in a bundle – choices range from free, individual, team and enterprise.
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