Kanban View

Visualize workflows, tasks and project milestones to keep work moving forward.

Jon Darbyshire avatar
Written by Jon Darbyshire
Updated over a week ago

Kanban Overview

Kanban aims to manage work by removing bottlenecks in systems (or processes) to balance demand and available capacity.

Kanban View is offers an important visualization tool to understand how work is flowing through a given process.

Why would I want to use Kanban View?

Kanban View, similar to Card View, presents records in large cards that are great for visualizing records within the flow of work by grouping them into sequential columns based on values list fields such as Single Select, Multiple Select, Status, Rating and Assign To fields.

For example:

  • View software product features by development sprint

  • View issues by resolution status

  • View marketing content by approval stage

As with other view types, the Report Toolbar Introduction outlines the primary controls for modifying views - all of which are available in Kanban View - and provides links to dive deeper into each control's functionality.

Select "Kanban" from the view dropdown to generate the Kanban View.


Working with Kanban View

Unique to Kanban is the Column Control, which allows you to group records based on types of fields, which are limited to Single Select, Status, Assign To, and Rating fields.

Column Groupings are required to use Kanban view - meaning the solution must include an eligible field type (above).

Kanban can also apply Swimlane Grouping, which effectively adds "row" (a.k.a. swimlanes) groupings to the view. This is helpful when looking at multiple values. "Stage" and "Type" are classic business scenarios, where the sales team may want to view Opportunities by Stage (New, Prospect, Scoping, etc.) in columns, and also by Type (Direct Customer, Channel Partner, etc.) for an overview of the sales pipeline.

Cover Images & Arranging Fields

Kanban view can automatically display previews of Image & Files fields by selecting the field as a Cover Image in the Fields to Display control. The same control allows you to select fields and put them in order of display on cards.

If you have multiple images or documents in the cover field, you can mouse over the cover to glance through the different attachments. Clicking the cover image will enlarge the attachments for a larger preview without having to open the record.


Card Size & Layout

Adjust the Card Size by selecting between Small (default), Medium, or Large.

Kanban view allows you to adjust the layout by collapsing or expanding columns and rows with a simple click.


Manage Statuses with Drag & Drop

Kanban makes it easy to manage record statuses. Just drag & drop cards between status columns or swimlane groupings. You can also add new status values to records directly in Kanban by clicking the gray + to the right of the last column.


Kanban View Examples of Use

Below you'll find examples from our Solution Library and internal applications here at SmartSuite.

Manage SmartSuite's Product Design Queue

Track Project Milestones by Status

Analyze Competition with Feature Comparisons

Close Real Estate Deals with a Visual Pipeline

Keep Job Applicants Flowing in the Hiring Process

Craft User Stories in Agile Software Development

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