Let clients explore options, comment on designs and sign off online
Design feedback often arrives as an email with six attachments, a photo of a marked-up print and a phone call nobody wrote down. We build configurators where clients explore options within your design rules. We also build portals where clients comment on drawings and approve each phase, and internal tools that track projects, documents and deadlines. Your design software stays; we add what connects it to clients and to the rest of the studio.
A configurator applies the rules your team otherwise explains in every meeting, such as which modules fit together, minimum sizes and what each option costs. Clients explore freely and can’t pick something you can’t build.
Rules, not slides
Comments, revisions and approvals are tied to a drawing version and a phase, so “who agreed to move the window?” always has an answer.
Approvals per phase
Concept, design, permit and construction documents each have their tasks, deadlines and required files. The studio sees what’s late before the client does.
Project tracking
A configurator for one product line, or a client portal for one type of project. Test it with real clients before adding more.
A small first version
Each phase follows the same loop. The system keeps versions and decisions in order, so the team can spend its time on design.
From the projects we’ve built in this area.
Most of the work in a configurator isn’t the floor plan on screen. It’s writing down the rules, such as which modules connect, what is structurally possible and what each choice costs. For Planodu, the admin system for modules and their details mattered as much as the builder clients see.
Revit, Archicad and similar tools do the design work, and replacing them makes no sense. The useful software sits around them, sharing exports with clients, tracking versions and approvals, and managing project documents. Start with exported files; direct connections to design tools are possible but cost more.
Clients like seeing the price change as they configure. If the number is wrong, it turns into a negotiation. Start with price ranges or “from” prices and tighten them as your cost data improves.
AI is useful for meeting notes, change lists, project descriptions and searching past projects and specifications. It shouldn’t check structural safety, fire safety or building regulations. Those stay with qualified people.
For running studio projects, good off-the-shelf software is often enough. Custom software earns its cost when it becomes part of what you sell, like a configurator, or when your process doesn’t fit standard tools.
| Email and shared drives | Project management software | Custom tool | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project phases and deadlines | No | Yes | Yes |
| Client approvals tied to a drawing version | No | Partly | Yes |
| Configurator with your design rules | No | No | Yes |
| Prices from your own cost data | No | No | Yes |
| Cost to start | None | Monthly fee per user | One-off build price |
| Ready to use | Today | Days | 6 weeks to 3 months |
What we’ve built for clients in this field.
Passive-home configurator · Europe
The problem
The team needed a digital product that turns a modular home offering into an interactive planning experience.
What we built
What changed: A configurator where customers explore modular homes and create their own floor plan.
A typical timeline. We confirm yours after the project workshop.
Week 1
Project workshopWe go through your design rules, products and the decisions clients find hardest, then agree a fixed price for a first version.
Weeks 2–3
Rules and dataModules, components, options and prices set up in an admin tool your team can update without us.
Weeks 4–7
Configurator or portalThe part clients use, shown in a working demo every week and tested with a few real clients.
Launch
Live with clientsPayments or inquiries switched on. You own the code, repositories and accounts.
Then
More products and phasesNew product lines, more options and studio tools, added in 2-week stages.
Systems we’ve built that are close to this one.
Platform that allows users to create floor plans for their passive homes.
Read the case study
A construction project platform combining progress dashboards, assigned tasks, documents and team collaboration.
Read the case studyNo, but small and growing studios often gain the most, because the same people design, meet clients and run the office. A first version can focus on one product line or one type of project.
A simple option configurator connected to one or two systems can fit our €5–10k range. An interactive floor-plan builder with an admin system, prices and payments, or a client portal with project tracking, is typically €10–30k. We fix the price after the project workshop.
Our past projects reached a first version in 6 weeks to 3 months. Defining the design rules often takes longer than building the screens, so studios that already have them written down move fastest.
Usually through the files they export, such as PDFs, images or IFC models. Deeper connections through their programming interfaces are possible but cost more. We check in the workshop whether they’re worth it for you.
Yes. Planodu takes payments through Stripe, and the same approach works for deposits, paid consultations or ordering a configured design. Your team gets the order with everything the client chose.
Yes. That’s what the admin system is for. Your team adds modules, changes prices and retires options without calling a developer.
In the words around design, such as meeting notes, change lists from client comments, project descriptions and searching past projects or specifications. We don’t use AI to check structural safety or building regulations; qualified people do that.
You do. The code, repositories and accounts belong to you, and so does every rule and component you set up. We fix bugs for free for 3 months after launch, then offer optional monthly support.
Show us the decisions your clients struggle with most. In 30 minutes we’ll tell you what a first tool could cover and roughly what it would cost.
JurajCEO, QikBuild
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