You don’t have to be a professional designer or an expert in patient/provider communication to build your own custom whiteboards. While designing a whiteboard is a complex process, we have greatly simplified it with our Board Builder tool. It’s easy to use and will help you design and lay out a whiteboard that suits your healthcare facility.

There are a lot of options to choose from, but not to worry, we will walk you through each of the options in this guide. If you are ready to get started, head on over to build.vividboard.com. 

Step #1: Choosing a Category

We’ll start off with an easy question: where will your whiteboard be placed? The two most basic options to choose from are “Patient Room” whiteboards and “Nurses’ Station” whiteboards. These two types of whiteboards serve very different purposes:

• Patient Room: hospitals use patient room boards to display everything from basic patient & provider information to meal & treatment schedules. They can be used in nearly every area of the hospital, from pediatrics to maternity, emergency and even behavioral health.
• Nurses’ Station: these whiteboards are great for listing nurse schedules, on-call information, room assignments and so much more. Nurses use them to coordinate their daily tasks and stay organized throughout the day.

Step #2: Choosing a Whiteboard Type

Before you get into design specifics, you can choose the type of whiteboard that you will be working with. “There’s more than one type of whiteboard,” you ask? That’s right, we offer multiple styles for the modern healthcare facility:

1. Low Profile Glassboards:these low-profile whiteboards are frameless and feature no visible hanging hardware. They essentially “float” on the wall, adding a more modern, elegant look to any patient room.
2. Changeable Glassboards:not your traditional glass whiteboards. These permanent fixtures feature interchangeable inserts that can be swapped out as needed. Use them to showcase information in different languages or change them out as rooms change over.
3. Glassboards with Stand-Offs:frameless, borderless glassboards made of materials. These modern whiteboards are a permanent fixture that complement any room design.
4. Custom Whiteboards:these boards offer the classic whiteboard look that comes complete with custom framing options, images, colors and more.

Many of these options can be used across the entire hospital, and the “right” one to choose is often a matter of preference, but some options can better serve you based on where they will be placed. For example, nurse’s stations and other small areas benefit from low profile Aria whiteboards, while behavioral health facilities may want to opt for frameless Classic Whiteboards that rest flat against the wall and cannot be tampered with.

Step #3: Choosing a Frame

Based on the whiteboard type you choose, you will have different frame options that come with it. Aria glassboards come standard with frameless edges and square corners, while InHarmony and MyHarmony whiteboards allow you to choose from square and rounded corners and standoffs. Classic Whiteboards offer the greatest variety of frame options:

• Silver Aluminum
• Black Powder Coated Steel
• Light Oak Wood
• Cherry Oak Wood
• Frameless

Step #4: Choosing Size and Orientation

Select your whiteboard size and choose between landscape and portrait options. Keep in mind that each board is made to order. If you need custom sizing, shapes or anything else, reach out to us and let us know how we can customize your whiteboard.

Step #5: Choosing a Background

Now that the physical build of your whiteboard is complete, it’s time to move onto the design phase, starting with your choice in background options. We have included some of the most popular options within our Board Builder, but these are by no means the extent of the pre-printed backgrounds we offer. Best of all, you can add a custom background by uploading an image or design of your own. Many hospitals choose images, logos or other designs based on their brand. 

We have even partnered with Pattern Pod to bring even more custom designs to our whiteboards. Choose a background that best suits the design of your space.

Step #6: Choosing a Layout

How information is presented on a whiteboard is important to increasing patient understanding. We have several pre-designed layouts you can choose from. These are designed based on our expertise and experience with patient/provider communication, but you can have us lay out a board in any format you feel best serves your needs. You can choose to have a header and/or footer and incorporate columns and rows into the design, as well.

Step #7: Finalizing Your Design

This is where the real fun begins. It’s also the most important part of the design process. Choosing the right information fields to display is essential to the core functionality of your whiteboard. Not sure where to begin? Ask yourself, your care providers and your patients what they want to see on a whiteboard. The information you display should be used to address patient needs, help nurses and doctors during treatment, and even address the concerns of the patient’s loved ones who come to visit.

There are dozens of information fields to choose from, and you aren’t limited to the options we have in our Board Builder. You can upload your own information fields or work with us to create something new and unique. Running short on inspiration? Take a look at our IdeaBook to see how facilities like yours have designed their whiteboards. 

What to Do When You’re Done

When you are finished with your whiteboard design, you can submit it to us for a free quote. And don’t worry, we won’t consider this a final design. We will reach out to you to discuss your needs and help you create a whiteboard that addresses every single one of them. 

Ready to get started?

Start Building Your Whiteboard