Board Design: Kanban

A Kanban Board is a visualization tool used to help work flow smoothly through each step of the improvement process.

What is a Kanban Board?

A Kanban Board is a visualization tool used to help work flow smoothly through each step of the improvement process. An overloaded system and bottlenecks are very easy to see on a Kanban Board because some columns will have too many Items while others may not have enough.

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The basic Kanban Board is one of the most popular Boards used by our customers; it really is a simple, highly visual way to stay on top of your improvement goals.

How is the Kanban Board designed?

There are two primary ways of designing your Kanban Board—by using one Card set to Kanban View or by using multiple Cards, in which each Card represents a different Item Status. In either case, a Location filter is often included.

One Card

The easiest way to create a Kanban Board is to create a one-column layout Board with one singular Card. Set your desired Card filters for your one Card, then default the Card to Kanban View.

Kanban Board One Card

In the example image above, the Kanban Board has one singular Card named "Improvements" which is set to display Items in Kanban View.

Create a Kanban Board with one Card

First, create a Board.
Add an Item List Card.
- Our customers typically include a single Card called "Improvements", although you can filter the Card (or add additional Cards) to reflect the precise interests of your team.

The Item List Card should be put into the Kanban View. To do so:
- Click the ellipses icon in the top right corner of the Card.
- In the resulting drop-down menu, select Kanban.

Two Line Ofie PRO TIP: You can control which columns are displayed in Kanban View.

Multiple Cards

Another way to create a Kanban Board is to create a Board with multiple Cards, each representing a different stage of an Item's lifecycle. This allows for nuanced filtering between the individual Cards and can work in conjunction with a Board filter.

Kanban Board Cards

In the example image above, the Kanban Board has five separate Cards named "New", "Planned", "Active", "Overdue", and "Complete" after different Item Statuses. Each Card displays a List of Items in Detail View.

Create a Kanban Board with multiple Cards

NOTE: Boards have a maximum Card limit of 16. Once a Board has 16 Cards, Users cannot add or copy additional Cards to that Board.

First, create a Board.
Add an Item List Card.
- Name the Card after an Item Status, and set the Card to filter for Items of that Status.
  - For example, create an Item List Card named "New" and set the filter rule to only display Items in the New status.
- Repeat this step for every Item status you want represented on the Board.
  - For example, you can create 5 Item List Cards, named "New", "Planned", "Active", "Overdue", and "Complete" after different Item Statuses.

- Keep the Item filters the same for each Card, but change the Status filter rule for each Card.
  - For example, if you're filtering for Projects, make sure each Card has the same filter criteria for a Project Workflow or Project Template. However, the "New" Card only displays Projects in the New status, the "Planned" Card only shows Projects in the Planned status, etc.

Location Filter

Typically, the default Board filter Location is set to “User’s Current Location” (including the Location & below). This will filter the Board to show all Items relevant to the current User's Location, as well as Items that appear in Locations nested under the current User's Location. The "current" User is the User who is viewing the Board.

If the Users who will be accessing the Board need to quickly check on the health of the entire organization, setting a default Location may not be necessary.