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One tool has dramatically changed the way we work over the last few years: Dropbox. If you do not know what Dropbox is or how it works, please click the link and watch their explanation video on their home page. They’ve put a lot of time and money into creating a fantastic overview of Dropbox – we cannot do better on this blog post.

So now you know what Dropbox is and how it work, let me tell you how this tool has changed how we work.

Dropbox has impacted us in 3 core areas:

• Collaboration & Review
• Digital Assets Management
• Speed To Market

Collaboration & Review

In 2002 getting a big PDF to a client meant either using an FTP, which also meant training folks how to use an FTP, or meeting in person to review something on-screen. Occasionally it meant shipping a CD or jump-drive, but those were rare cases. The tech was available, but it had not trickled down to everyone, nor was the tech user-friendly for everyone, no matter what point they were coming to it.

Dropbox took the idea of file sharing, and made it into the no-brainer task it was always meant to be. When we begin a project with a new client we set up everyone with a free Dropbox account, which provides 2+ GB of free cloud storage space. Then, I set up a project folder and invite my clients and team members to. When the invitation is accepted with the click of the mouse or tap on your device, everyone has a a common folder for the project. This is where I place design iterations (PDFs, JPGs, PNGs, etc.), my clients place text (.doc, .txt, .xls, etc.), and we are able to review everything without emailing large files back and forth to each other.

With the mobile and tablet apps from Dropbox, reviewing and collaborating on files can happen anywhere. The apps also make it nice to snap a photo or video on a mobile device, and instantly upload it to our shared Dropbox folder. Collaboration and review of the work that goes into a project is now efficient and user friendly.

Digital Assets Management

When working with products that have myriad branded touch points, we end up with lots of digital assets: Product photography, product logos, marketing visuals, etc. In the now-old days, two scenarios played out: One person was the gatekeeper for these assets, or several different people had different assets which led to the bastardization of the brand message given enough time. We use Dropbox to introduce a third option, which is to set up a common folder system that has all of a brand’s digital assets, and those assets are available to the team as needed.

We’ve learned 2 key things about this:

First, always (always, always!) keep a Master version of your folder system off of Dropbox, and your team leader should keep this somewhere safe – an external hard drive or media of some kind. It’s essentially a backup. The reason is that because the team has access to the files, eventually someone will have a mental slip and save over or delete a file. You do not want your only copy of a file to be live. It’s common sense, really, and it’s just as important here as it was 10 years ago when archiving to CDs was the norm.

Second, do not grant everyone access immediately. With Dropbox the main shared folder has an owner, and that should be the team leader. That leader can selectively invite and remove people from the shared folder. Inviting people to the shared folder who are not involved in the project in an active and important way is just asking for trouble. It’s also very important that the people you invite have an understanding of what Dropbox is. Again, have everyone review what Dropbox is before giving them access.

 Speed To Market

The two aforementioned benefits speak to one overarching theme: Dropbox can really make the process of completing a project efficient, giving you speed to market. The days of going to lunch while waiting for a PDF to download are over. With Dropbox you can review the PDF on your mobile while your co-worker drives everyone to lunch, provide feedback to your designer by 2pm, and have the next iteration a day earlier than we previously could do things. If you have a product or service you want to get out to your customers quickly and efficiently, using Dropbox aides that goal.

Wrap It Up

Since Dropbox came on the scene a number of competing services have popped up, and more are on the way. Just this week Google Drive and Cubby are the talk among geeks. They may be great services eventually, but as I write this Dropbox is king of the hill.

One last thing: Dropbox has a great referral program that is free to take part in. As a Dropbox user you get 1 additional free GB of storage space for every person that you refer to Dropbox, and the person signing up gets 500 MB additional free space. It’s a win -win. So if after reading this  you want to sign up, get yourself some free space by using this link to access Dropbox. Then when you’re a user, you can send your link out to your coworkers and friends to get more free space.

Cheers.