Ace your Site Walks with SiteOwl

February 20, 2025 Lifecycle Labs

Best Practices for Site Walks with DesignOwl

• Decide on Your Approach – Will you take a "spots and dots" approach to quickly mark device locations, or go with a detailed method that includes annotations, notes, and supporting photos? Decide beforehand to keep your workflow efficient.

• Create a Project from the Plan Library – If you have a floor plan, upload it to DesignOwl for easy reference. If not, start with a blank plan and build as you go. This ensures every site walk is well-documented and structured.

• Use Favorites for Speed – Save your most commonly used devices in the Favorites menu. This allows you to drag and drop pre-configured devices onto the floor plan in seconds instead of manually inputting details each time.

• Work Offline? No Problem! – If you anticipate working in an area with limited or no connectivity, download your plans to the iPad ahead of time. This way, you can keep marking locations and capturing details without interruption.

• Capture Everything – Take photos of critical areas, potential problematic installation areas, or key locations and attach them directly to the device. This creates a visual record that helps reduce miscommunication and provides clarity to stakeholders.

• Speed vs. Detail? Choose the Right Mode – Use our new fast walk mode to quickly place devices and move through the site efficiently. For areas that require additional context, switch to annotating photos to add detailed notes and markups on images.

• Show Results On-Site – Before leaving, review your work with stakeholders by leveraging zoom, filtering, and parts list options on DesignOwl. This allows you to catch errors in real-time and ensure everything is accurately documented before the site walk ends.