I won't say this is you, but it's funny the number of people who will interview and say something like this and then still give a non-trivial problem/question to whiteboard.

Reminds me of a guy who interviewed me several months ago at a place in Mountain View (not Google, but another).

He started by asking me to create an object with a couple attributes. Then he slowly began to add to the problem by asking for X, then Y, then Z.

Little by little, the code became more complex because he wanted iteration, etc.

He would say "I just want to know that you're able to code."

Later on, I found out he didn't like what I wrote, meanwhile all the basic elements of coding he wanted I was able to add without any problems and I met his specs.

If there's a "communication issue" in whiteboarding, perhaps the interviewees shouldn't shoulder all of the blame. Perhaps the interviewers need to temper their expectations and learn to communicate them better, because obviously there is some disconnect in a situation like this, and it's not the first time I've seen this before.