In every engineering team’s office around the world you’ll find whiteboards. Covered in scribbled diagrams, wire-frames and database tables, whiteboards and engineers go hand in hand. It’s no wonder that for years whiteboards have been the status quo when it comes to running technical onsite interviews.
Canvas is the latest feature added to our remote interviewing product CodeLive. Using the Canvas, both interviewer and candidate can quickly draw diagrams and shapes to translate technical questions on a high level.
In Canvas interviewers and candidates can:
- Draw free form objects with a pencil, pen and other stroke types in any colour
- Add text boxes, resize text and format with colour
- Draw and use lines to connect objects together
- Create circles, rectangles and other shapes
- Add post-its with additional notes
- Upload photos and screenshots to draw on top of
- Upload PDFs and powerpoint slides for more complex systems
- Resize and move objects around
- Undo, clear and pan around the Canvas
After enabling CodeLive Canvas, you will be able to use it in every CodeLive interview by simply choosing the appropriate tab on the left-hand side:
What can I draw in CodeLive Canvas?
Currently, CodeLive Canvas gives you the possibility to upload your own images, PDF, and PPT files and draw basic shapes: rectangles, circles, lines, and text. You can also add a postit. If you can't find the desired shape in default options, then you can always pick either pen or marker and draw it yourself.
Can I customize my drawings?
When looking at customization, you can pick stroke thickness and color. You can move already present objects by either grabbing the object you want, or selecting first if you want to grab more than 1 object.
I've made a mistake while drawing, what can I do?
If you've made a mistake, then you can either undo your last action or grab an eraser or scissors. You can also simply clear the whole drawing board in order to begin anew - but be careful because this action cannot be undone.
I've finished the interview. Where can I check the board?
There's no option to go back to the board after finishing the interview right now, but having the latest snapshot of the board in the candidate report is one of the first features that we want to add.
I want to use CodeLive Canvas in my interviews. How can I go about it?
CodeLive Canvas is available to all clients with Codility Growth Plan or higher. After being enabled, it is automatically added to all of your CodeLive rooms, similar to CodeLive Whiteboard. If you don't have access to Canvas, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or support@codility.com in order to have it enabled.
If you have any additional questions about CodeLive Canvas or would like to leave your feedback, please contact us at support@codility.com and we'll be happy to help.