How freelance designer Mika replaced Trello and Asana with Workfow
Workflow has made communicating with clients much clearer and easier. My clients love it, which has never happened before.
Can you give us an overview of yourself and your work?
I’m Mika Suetake, a graphic designer and senior creative. I work with various clients and brands across different projects, including website design, packaging design, flyers, and more. My work involves creating multiple versions of designs and handling lots of feedback and comments from clients.
Why did you switch to Workflow and what tools did it replace?
Before Workflow, I was bouncing between Notion or Trello for project management, Dropbox for file storage, Acrobat’s web version for PDF comments, and email for…well, pretty much everything else. It was a mess.
What drew me to Workflow was its ability to consolidate everything into one platform.
On top of that, getting feedback on visual artwork was a nightmare. Trying to communicate visual changes through written emails orTrello comments often led to miscommunications. It was sometimes really difficult to understand what my client was actually talking about.
Workflow is a game-changer because it puts the actual file front and centre. You can upload files—PDFs, images, you name it—and comment directly on them. That’s huge for visual work where you need pinpoint feedback.
You can upload files—PDFs, images, you name it—and comment directly on them. That’s huge for visual work where you need pinpoint feedback.
I think it’s definitely made communication a lot clearer and easier. This visual stuff has always been very difficult to communicate, especially remotely, because you can’t just point at the screen. Now it’s all there in Workflow.
Finally, one thing I used to struggle with a lot was clients not understanding how Trello or Asana works. I’d always have to give them an intro on how to use it.
Workflow has been amazing—no one has asked a single question about how to use it. That’s never happened before! Now everything is in Workflow, and I love that it’s all in one place. It’s such a relief not having to play tech support for my clients anymore.
Workflow has been amazing—no one has asked a single question about how to use it.
What does your project management process look like in Workflow?
I’ve set up different projects for each client in Workflow. It’s where I organise all my tasks and invite stakeholders and points of contact.
I really like the overview page. Being able to see everything in progress across different clients at a glance is super helpful to keep organised and manage my workload.
How do you involve clients or stakeholders in Workflow? What do you think of it?
I invite all the decision-makers and points of contact for each client to their respective project in Workflow.
It’s been amazing because clients have stopped giving feedback by email altogether. The conversation now happens in Workflow, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid extra work to gather feedback scattered around in various.
One really cool feature is the ability to use share links for file reviews. This is super handy when my main point of contact needs to show the work to others on their team. They can simply forward the email, and those team members can join in and leave comments without needing an official invite to the project. They don’t even need to create an account.
Not a single client has tried to give feedback by email if I send the Workflow link, because it brings the conversation to Workflow. That’s really good because everything is in one place.
Not a single client has tried to give feedback by email if I send the Workflow link, because it brings the conversation to Workflow. That’s really good because everything is in one place.
Praise time: What is your favourite Workflow feature and why?
The version history feature is definitely my favourite. It’s something I never knew I needed, but now it feels essential. Being able to quickly compare different versions of a design has made the revision process so much smoother.
One of my clients actually pointed out how much they love this feature, especially for packaging design work. With subtle changes between versions, it’s incredibly useful to easily go back and compare designs. Before, if we were working via email, my client would waste time searching for old versions or they’d have to ask me to resend them. Now, it’s just one click in Workflow to view different versions.
Finally, the ability to comment directly on specific parts of the design is amazing. I used to have this only with Adobe Acrobat, but now it’s available for all my projects in one place. It’s become an absolute necessity for clear, precise feedback.
Overall, the versioning feature has made communication with clients much clearer and easier. It’s truly been a game-changer for my workflow.
