How to run a design review with a client (and get clear feedback)

A good design review with a client has four parts: send the model in a form they can open, ask specific questions, keep every comment pinned to the spot it's about, and close each round with a clear decision. Most reviews go wrong on the first two: the client gets a file they can't open or a few screenshots, and a vague "what do you think?", and answers with something just as vague.

#1. Prepare the round

• Decide what this round is for. Overall shape? Fit with the mating part? Details and finish? Say it. A client reviewing "everything" at once comments on everything at once.
• Freeze a version. Review one state of the design, named or numbered, so feedback can't land on a version that has already moved on.
• Leave out the noise. Hide fasteners, internal parts and construction geometry the client doesn't need, so their attention goes where you need it.

#2. Send something they can actually open

A client without CAD can't open a STEP or native file, and screenshots only show the angles you picked. Send the model itself, in the browser: upload it and share a review link. They can turn it, zoom and measure, on any computer or phone, without an account.

#3. Ask specific questions

Before sending, pin your own questions on the model, on the spots they're about:

• "Is 3 mm enough clearance here?"
• "Fillet or chamfer on this edge?"
• "Does the logo sit in the right place?"
• "Anything here that would be hard for your team to assemble?"

Specific questions get specific answers. They also show the client where to start, which matters when they're looking at a 3D model for the first time.

#4. Collect feedback on the model, not in email

Ask the client to click on the part and leave their notes there, rather than replying by email. Each note then has a location and the angle they were looking from, so "the hole on the side" can only mean one hole. If several people review, they all comment in the same place, and you see where they agree or contradict each other before you change anything.

#5. Triage, answer, change

• Reply to every note, even if it's "yes, will do". The client sees their feedback was heard.
• Use statuses: open, in progress, resolved, won't fix. A "won't fix" with a one-line reason saves a meeting. See notes, replies and statuses.
• Change the design, then upload the next version to the same model. Open notes carry over, so nothing is lost between rounds, and the client can compare the versions.

#6. Close the round with a decision

End every round with an explicit outcome: approved, approved with the listed changes, or another round needed. Get it in writing, attached to the version it's about, so there's no "I never said that" later.

#Checklist

• The round has a stated purpose
• One frozen, numbered version
• Unneeded parts hidden or removed
• Sent as a link the client can open without CAD
• Your questions pinned on the model
• A date by which you need the feedback
• Every note answered, with a status
• Next version uploaded to the same model
• The round closed with a written decision

For the whole process across several rounds, see the 3D model review process.