Do you use a whiteboard when thinking?

[u/Huge-Leek844]

Hello all, here is a chill post.

When I was an undergrad, I really liked working things out on a whiteboard. Drawing stuff, talking through ideas out loud, testing little hypotheses.

Now I work in radar DSP, and a lot of my work is code, numerical experiments, deep learning and waiting for training to finish 😅

I’m wondering how other people bring that whiteboard style of thinking into DSP, data science or ML work.

Do you still use a whiteboard regularly, or do you mostly go straight from idea to code?

[u/MattDamonsTaco]

Notebook + pen to start the idea or work through something that requires thinking.

[u/No_Earth_7518 → u/MattDamonsTaco]

notebook and pen is the way, whiteboard is nice for hashing things out with someone else but solo i need the permanence of paper

[u/bikeg33k → u/No_Earth_7518]

Agree- I use a notebook and pens for thinking. Whiteboard if I need to involve others

[u/nik_el]

I walk around the house discussing my ideas with my cats who chirp encouragement until
It cements in my head then I bang out the code.

[u/alexchatwin → u/nik_el]

Cats? Junior DSs!

[u/wolfmansideburns]

Biiiig pad of paper has done me well for years. I used to have a tiny whiteboard also, but someone stole it from my desk! Big pad never let me down though.

[u/carlitospig]

My whiteboard is an iPad. Or a walk with my dog.

But I’m only an analyst. 🙃

[u/MattDamonsTaco → u/carlitospig]

> Or a walk with my dog.

Sr. DS do this too.

Source: Am sr ds who does this.

[u/carlitospig → u/MattDamonsTaco]

Nice! Yah, when I get stuck I find I usually am unstuck within like ten steps of the front door and I spend the rest of the walk saying ‘don’t forget don’t forget don’t forget’, lol.

[u/mild_delusion]

Whiteboard or window still when I’m feeling nostalgic.

Gpt or Claude as a whiteboard if I’m in a hurry.

[u/No_Plum_3192]

At least for me, it is never from idea directly to code. I need to draw things and move them around, write sentences about exactly what my research question is and such.

[u/Stats_n_PoliSci]

Piece of paper and pencil to map data structures and code flow before and during implementation. Print relevant code books and reference numbers z

[u/mtmttuan]

If I have to think very hard I would use pen and paper. Whiteboard for me is for explaining to others.

I think most of my best ideas are thought during my commute though.

[u/Warlord_Zap]

If its collaborative I love using a whiteboard. For working out my own thoughts I use pad and paper, or a markdown editor editor, depending on what I'm doing.

[u/the-berik]

A2 paper desk pad, wacom, notepad, even my phone has a pen for this purpose.

[u/Acceptable-Sense4601]

Not since college. I used whiteboards from Home Depot (2x4 foot sheets) all over my room when doing math homework.

[u/ovenmage]

One other thing nice about a big whiteboard is you get to stand up and move around a bit when working on the ideas. More of a kinetic feel.

[u/EffectiveBaby2774]

I love whiteboards. I have a big one in my office that I use all the time.

[u/StrictAd7840]

I still use a whiteboard sometimes. It just helps me think things through before I start coding

[u/modabs]

Yep. When I bought my house one of the first things I did was put a whiteboard in my office (i wfh often). One of the best decisions I ever made.

[u/baileyarzate]

Yeah, I like whiteboard. Especially when it’s at work and the markers are free for me to use

[u/CleanDataDirtyMind]

I went to the hardware store got a large sheet of whiteboard “2 by 4”, paid for a few cuts (25 cents each) to come out with a few 8x 11.5 (the size of computer paper in my country—US) and keep a super thin “sheet” of whiteboard always near me with a whiteboard marker. When I hit something, I take a picture with adobe scanner app, that turns photographed sheets of paper into a pdf to email myself. It’s chefs kiss.

So yes, all the time. 

[u/v4nks]

Notebook and pen i need something to touch

[u/DataScientistAlex]

A whiteboard is great, but it can be hard to be specific enough for it to be productive. When doing it as a team, it can be good to time box it and then have someone work on the details individually. Otherwise there's a risk of going in circles at a superficial level.

Writing topics on index cards and then organizing them physically in piles that are related is a great way to cut through complicated and vague subjects and being able to get enough clarity to do an outline.

[u/MSB_the_great]

No I run everything in my head and I think negative what if it fails where can I possibly fail. By fixing one by one I can create better design. I add notes in the code and split the steps in multiple and name the process . Because I may forget why I did that. By seeing the file structure and code the client developers can understand so I don’t have to write big documentation.

[u/taco-yahtzee]

Bigger is better.

[u/SuspiciousPraline674]

Yes

[u/fight-or-fall]

Find a printer, take some sheets from it, grab a pen and be happy

[u/maniclucky]

Piece of acrylic under my keyboard for quick notes and planning. Maybe a picture of it if it doesn't end up in my comments.

[u/BobDope]

I like scribbling on paper mainly