Nureva releases Span 1.2 software with enhanced collaborative features

Calgary-based Nureva Inc., an award-winning collaboration-solutions company, announced a new release of its software for the Nureva Span system.

Span 1.2 software, which customers receive automatically through the cloud, further enables collaborative activities in several key ways. The addition of familiar business-analysis templates makes it even easier for teams to leverage the Span system as part of their established processes. An upgrade to the software’s digital ink automatically smooths pen strokes to improve the appearance of annotations and sketches, while visual cues and new menu options make the use of groups and subgroups more intuitive.

These software enhancements reflect Nureva’s commitment to deliver innovations that enable familiar business processes and activities. For example, the ready-made templates offer a selection of proven models for business analysis, including SWOT analyses, fishbone diagrams and Kanban boards. Each familiar framework helps guide thought processes and enables easy organization of ideas during collaborative sessions, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing the amount of preparation required.

Along with tightening the focus of idea-generation and planning activities, templates also automate certain actions to bring visual consistency to content shared on the Span system’s digital canvas. For example, sections in color-coded templates serve as active hot spots that transfer their own color to the digital notes placed inside. Similarly, enhancements to grouping mean that a group or subgroup will now glow when content is added to indicate precise placement, and subgroups can now be pinned in place inside larger groups. Finally, calligraphic ink produces graceful, flowing pen strokes that are reminiscent of pen on paper and enhance any form of writing or drawing in the software. Collectively, these enhancements make the overall experience more intuitive, familiar and enjoyable.

“We continue to let end-user insights guide the development of new features for our products,” said Nancy Knowlton, Nureva’s CEO, “The enhancements in Span 1.2 software have made the system even more valuable to customers by aligning its capabilities with their existing innovation methods and processes.”

About the Span system
The Span system combines a panoramic projector with a 10', 20' or 30' (3.1, 6.1 or 9.1 m) wide projection surface to display an expansive 40' by 4' (12.2 m by 1.2 m) digital canvas. Participants create their ideas on their personal devices, either a computer or tablet, and share them in the cloud.

The system draws upon familiar, simple and flexible tools already widely used in paper-based collaboration processes including sticky notes, sketches, images and flip charts. The digital canvas retains all of the flexibility that paper-based systems offer (e.g., large workspaces with persistent information) while overcoming many of the deficiencies (e.g., the awkwardness of physically moving large numbers of sticky notes, sticky notes that fall off the wall, challenges of including remote participants in the process, the need for transcription, and storage and retention of the work).

Additional details about Span 1.2 software

Templates

Templates are designed to support the free-form workflow of the software’s digital canvas. Like other content, one or more templates are added to a canvas from the software toolbar. Digital notes, sketches and images float over top of templates for easy manipulation and grouping within designated template sections. If desired, templates may be given custom titles. Template options include SWOT and PEST analyses, Venn and fishbone diagrams, Kanban board, Porter’s five forces, Business Model Canvas, calendars and maps. They are available for users working on a wall in an immersive environment or on their own devices via a web browser or the Span app.

Availability

Span 1.2 software is available at no additional cost to licensed users of the Span system. The software can be accessed using the Windows^® 8.1+ operating system (including Windows 10), iOS 8.1+ and Android™ 5.0 apps, Chrome™ v.44+ browser and Safari^® 9.0+ browser (when used on the Mac OS X 10.10+ operating system).