How to Run an Effective Design Review

Design reviews are an essential part of the product development process. They provide a design evaluation method to align with the project goals. These milestones empower teams to detect potential problems early, preventing them from escalating into larger issues. 

When conducted effectively, design reviews offer several key benefits: they enhance clarity, foster collaboration, and improve the quality of the final product. Unfortunately, a design review can falter without proper planning, clear communication, or sufficient attention to detail. Challenges such as unclear goals, limited stakeholder involvement, and ineffective tools can undermine the process, leaving critical issues unnoticed and jeopardizing project outcomes.

This article will discuss some problems teams face during design reviews, such as ambiguity, time limits, and version control issues. We will also demonstrate how Altium 365 makes the process easier and more efficient regarding collaboration, version control, and feedback implementation. By conducting a good design review, teams can avoid pitfalls, save time, and develop better designs that align with the project goals.

Why Design Reviews Are Key to Successful Product Development

Every successful product is the outcome of a good plan, and proper implementation and design reviews are the elements that keep these stages connected. They allow teams to assess and confirm the designs and ensure they fulfill the project's needs and objectives. 

In addition to the technical aspect, design reviews are an effective way of enabling multidisciplinary teams to contribute and suggest improvements. Design reviews deliver a clear path for efficient development. The result? Top-quality, dependable products that address the market's needs and gain the stakeholders' trust.

Common Challenges of Design Reviews

Design reviews are crucial in delivering successful products, as they ensure that appropriate designs are relevant to the project objectives. However, conventional approaches and outdated tools can pose problems that hinder the process, resulting in disparate feedback, version control problems, and accessibility concerns. 

1. Fragmented Feedback

One major challenge is fragmented feedback. According to the CoLab report, 43% of the input collected during design reviews is not followed up on, making it challenging to implement the suggested changes. Using emails for meeting notes and managing feedback presents barriers, as informal discussions often lead to important changes being overlooked or inaccurately communicated. In informal discussions, there is a high likelihood that important changes may be overlooked or incorrectly repeated. This underscores the necessity for a centralized feedback system to coordinate and monitor the process and establish accountability.

2. Non-Engineer Engagement

Another common issue is involving stakeholders who are not engineers. According to CoLab findings, only 49% of engineering teams feel they get useful feedback from cross-functional team members outside of engineering. This low engagement rate demonstrates the gap between engineers and other stakeholders, including customers or business teams. For example, customers may lack the technical knowledge to explain design features or feel uncomfortable engaging in technical discussions. Providing simple, practical tools or visual aids during reviews can facilitate a broader range of participants and make the design more inclusive, considering various perspectives.

3. Late-Stage Errors

One of the biggest challenges during design reviews is dealing with last-minute issues. CoLab research highlights that 90% of companies experience delays caused by last-minute design changes, leading to re-spins that waste critical engineering time. 

In a webinar hosted by Altium, organizations shared common problems, including working with outdated file versions, losing feedback, and lacking access to the full design context–issues that contribute to delays and inefficiencies. 

For example, beta customers reported relying on static PDFs or Excel sheets to manage data, which often led to confusion and redundant feedback loops. Without a centralized platform to view the latest file versions, stakeholders sometimes missed critical information, causing unnecessary work and wasting time and resources. Identifying potential problems early in the review process is essential to avoid these setbacks. The Altium 365 Design Review app solves these problems by enabling teams to collaborate in real-time, interact directly with the latest design files, and manage feedback efficiently. This modern method reduces the chances of costly changes at the last minute, allowing teams to keep the flow and produce better designs.

4. Tool Inefficiencies

Additionally, tool inefficiencies arise during the review process. The CoLab report indicates that 64% of professionals use spreadsheets to manage feedback, which many consider clumsy. Feedback can be scattered across various formats, including emails, meeting notes, and even paper documents, making management challenging. As a result, teams may waste significant time compiling information from diverse sources only to realize that a crucial detail was overlooked, necessitating another review.

5. Access Issues

Moreover, accessibility issues pose key obstacles. In a recent webinar, 20% of participants reported difficulties ensuring that design data and documentation were up-to-date for all stakeholders. For example, one design version might be reviewed and approved for implementation while a different version is used to identify critical differences, leading to unnecessary rework. Challenges in accessing the most up-to-date design data and documentation can result in errors, delays, miscommunication, compliance risks, increased costs, and a loss of stakeholder trust, ultimately jeopardizing project success.

Tips for Organizing Effective Design Review Session

To conduct an effective design review, it is important to take some time and plan for it, be actively involved, and ensure everyone is well-equipped to contribute. The following best practices streamline the process and maximize outcomes.

1. Prepare Ahead

Good preparation is key to a solid design review. Ensure that all the stakeholder group members have the design materials and other relevant documents updated and available for the meeting. This way, participants can go through the designs in advance, making the meeting more effective. Teams undertaking pre-reads have fewer miscommunications and can deal with issues faster during reviews. 

2. Engage All Stakeholders

Design reviews work best when they involve a variety of people, including non-engineers like suppliers, manufacturing, procurement, and customers. To boost participation, it’s crucial to make design data easy to access and understand for everyone. Using interactive platforms helps ensure that all stakeholders can share their input effectively.

3. Leverage Technology

Traditional design reviews are typically conducted in person, but trends show that more teams are shifting to asynchronous reviews due to the rise in remote work. Using software to centralize workflows and improve collaboration is key. Altium 365 Design Review is an excellent tool for enhancing collaboration, particularly for remote teams.

4. Track and Act

Feedback is only as good as the action that results from it. Translate the comments in the review into steps and tasks and then define who is responsible for completing the task to ensure it is completed. Instead of spreadsheets, employ centralized systems to avoid mistakes and increase accountability. Timely implementation of the suggestions allows the projects to stay on course and the team morale to be high. 

Following the abovementioned strategies, teams can introduce more effective, efficient, and inclusive design reviews.

How Altium 365 Transforms Design Review Workflows

Altium 365 transforms design review processes and addresses several challenges, ensuring your team stays on track and doesn’t miss critical milestones.

Simplified Sharing

Design reviews of a traditional nature can be rather cumbersome as they often involve the use of files shared via email or any other means, which may lead to outdated or inaccessible designs. 

At its core, Altium 365 simplifies this process with project links that contributors can easily share via email or messaging applications. These links provide the stakeholders with direct access to the current version of the designs, thus enabling real-time collaboration. 

Interactive Web Viewer

One of the key benefits of Altium 365 is the ability to employ a Web Viewer to interact with native designs in the browser. While it is possible to view static PDFs or spreadsheets, this feature allows for a much more active way of working with designs that include zoom and pan and the ability to view specific layers and components. This capability increases participation and makes it easier for individuals not very conversant with technical aspects to engage in the review process actively. 

Contextual Feedback

Feedback is typically distributed and stored as emails, spreadsheets, or meeting notes, thus making it difficult to consolidate and respond to in the traditional workflows. Altium 365 is a solution to this by providing contextual feedback where users can add comments or even create tasks on the design. 

Introducing Altium 365 Design Review App

The newly launched Altium 365 Design Review app elevates collaboration with new features that streamline the design review process and enhance communication. This app is designed to boost participation, making reviews more effective and ensuring all stakeholders are actively involved.

Ensuring Every Critical Detail Is Addressed

Altium 365 Design Review supports the use of templates for checklists and progress tracking, ensuring a structured and thorough review process. These templates help minimize the risk of overlooking important steps by providing ready-made options for various review stages, such as design schematics, PCB layouts, supply chain details, or manufacturing preparations. Users can customize these templates or create their own to suit specific needs.

This structured approach ensures collaborators address all critical aspects during a design review. For example, a PCB review checklist might include tasks like verifying component placement and ensuring routing integrity.

The system also tracks progress in real-time, allowing users to see what tasks collaborators have completed and what remains.

Real-Time Collaboration

The new app also fosters real-time collaboration, enhancing the benefits of asynchronous reviews. Stakeholders can provide feedback directly through their web browsers, ensuring everyone has access to the latest design context. By centralizing comments and updates, the app eliminates common challenges like miscommunication or version control issues, allowing teams across locations and time zones to work more effectively and address potential problems efficiently.

The app also enhances accessibility. By integrating seamlessly with suppliers, customers, and other partners, it breaks down barriers between engineers and other departments like manufacturing and procurement. This means everyone involved in the review process can provide input, improving coordination and the quality of feedback.

Task Conversion

Altium 365 Design Review allows feedback to be converted into traceable tasks, increasing accountability across teams.

Tool Integration

Altium 365 Design Review enhances task management by linking design feedback to the broader project tasks through integrations with tools like Jira. This ensures that feedback is actionable and accessible to all teams, allowing them to track what has been completed and what still needs attention within the overall project plan.

Export Options

The app also provides export options for audit readiness so that the teams can store essential information and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

The Future of Design Reviews

The design review process is a dynamic field that is changing quickly, mainly because of the need for better results, integration, and accuracy. The conventional methods and techniques that include the use of spreadsheets and static PDFs have led to siloed feedback, delays, and even missed opportunities. New-age tools such as Altium 365 Design Review are changing the dynamics of how teams work, providing centralized workflows, real-time feedback, and increased accessibility for all stakeholders. 

Interested in taking your design reviews to the next level? Start tracking feedback in real-time and prevent errors for higher-quality products today!