Hi, I'm Adrian. Over the years, I've accumulated thousands of different notes, spread across a multitude of notebooks, apps on my phone, and Word files on my computer. This ended up creating a real note maze, scattered across different platforms. I felt lost in managing my notes. I appreciated the digital format for its convenient synchronization, while maintaining a deep affection for paper as a writing medium.

This is why, when I discovered the existence of noteworthy 2, a tablet that promised to easily take notes, sync my notes across devices, and keep the authenticity of pencil to paper, I was overcome with excitement. Last year, my dear and sweetheart gave me the greatest gift by giving me this tablet. Since then, I have used it daily. In this article, I would like to share with you my personal experience with this tool which has become the faithful companion of my daily life as a Designer.

⚠️ I would like to clarify that I have no partnership with the reMarkable company and that this article is in no way a review of the product. My goal is to share with you my own experience with integrating this tablet into my routine.

Summary

• Brief presentation of the reMarkable 2 Tablet
• How I use my reMarkable 2 tablet in my work as a Product Designer
  1. Organize and synchronize my work
  2. Plan my day
  3. Quick note taking
  4. The perfect companion for sketching and ideation
  5. Text Conversion, Exporting and Sharing Content
  6. Reader and document annotation
• Conclusion

Brief presentation of the reMarkable 2 Tablet

The reMarkable 2 tablet is a very light tablet and comes with a pen, the Pencil, which allows you to take notes on a black and white screen and which faithfully reproduces the authentic feel of the paper and pen.

It also has a mobile application in the cloud which allows you to find all your notes on all other devices at any time. But, it is not possible to go to the internet with the tablet and install third-party applications. I know that this is one of the main criticisms of him but for my part, it allows me to stay focused in eliminating digital distractions.

Using reMarkable 2 in my work as a Product Designer

1. Organize and synchronize my work

What is practical with the reMarkable is that you can create the storage and organization system that you want with notebooks, folders and subfolders, like on a Windows Explorer.

So, when I have to manage several projects simultaneously, this tablet allows me to organize myself efficiently by creating separate folders for each project which themselves contain the notebooks. Whenever I want to write, I go to the right notebook for the right project to write a specific note. It is also possible to be even more organized by adding specific tags in his notebooks.

And last point, with the system of synchronization with the cloud, I don't have to worry about losing my precious data. I can simply find them in the reMarkable app whether on my phone or my computer.

2. A valuable tool for planning my day

Planning my day well is essential in my work and the tablet proves to be a valuable tool for this task. Every morning, I spend about ten minutes writing down my tasks in notebooks. task lists, planners daily and weekly. This gives me a complete overview of my tasks: the deadlines to meet, the priority tasks and the time I will allocate for each project.

3. Taking quick notes

In my work environment, everything moves very quickly. Between meetings, workshops and work sessions that follow one another, I always need to be able to quickly take notes. As I mentioned during the presentation of the tablet, thepen touch experience on the screen perfectly imitates that of a pencil on paper, which gives me unparalleled ease of use for enter notes in a flash.

Furthermore, I appreciate the freedom to move and delete text easily, a feature that is not possible on paper, allowing me to structure my notes so as to arrange them in the order that suits me best. Note that the tablet offers templates for creating a new notebook. Ranging from creative templates, planners and lines, they are more than enough for my Designer needs.

4. The perfect companion for sketching and ideation

When inspiration comes to me and it is necessary to quickly draw a concept, a draft or an idea to explain what I have in mind, my tablet becomes my essential ally.

With just a few strokes of the pen, I can sketch out the first ideas. My tablet becomes the starting point for my work as a Designer, where I create wireframes which I then share with customers or to make brainstorming with my team, by plugging my tablet into the meeting room screen with the screen sharing functionality. This big screen approach allows us to fully focus on ideas, which promotes creativity and teamwork. Also, the diversity of pen options, including line thickness, offers complete flexibility to adapt the pen to the nature of the drawing I wish to create.

5. Exporting and Sharing Content

Another feature that I use a lot on a daily basis is the text conversion. Given the sometimes delicate nature of my writing, it is essential that my notes are easily understandable when I share them with my team or clients. There automatic conversion turns out to be quite practical, even if, from time to time, it may require some subsequent corrections.

When it comes to sending my notes, the tablet simplifies my task by allowing me to send them by e-mail with ease, as long as my tablet is connected to the Internet. This includes meeting notes, reminders, or even the latest screen diagram I'm working on. Everything is possible.

6. Reader and document annotation

As you have understood, the reMarkable tablet allows me to take notes and send them but one point on which I did not expect it at all and where I was pleasantly surprised is that it is also a super e-reader. I can download PDFs, books in ePub format, and even iBooks. I especially like how easily I can copy any web page using the ReMarkable browser extension and send it instantly to my tablet.

When I have documentation to go through, meeting presentations to consult, recent books on UX Design to read, or the most recent articles from my monitoring, I send everything to my tablet. So I can not only read, but also make annotations. I use brackets to highlight key points, add notes in the margins, and use the highlighter to highlight passages that interest me. This functionality allows me to perform a true content curation intuitively.

Conclusion

I hope that my little overview on the use of my reMarkable 2 tablet has enlightened you on what it can bring you. Combining the simplicity and creativity of paper with the benefits of digital technology, it has truly improved my productivity, stimulated my creativity and teamwork as well as my organization. I can only recommend that you consider the reMarkable 2 tablet (or any similar tablet) as a valuable investment for your work. 

 

 

Adrian Rin, UX-Designer at UX-Republic