# Explain what a design studio visit can decide.

A builder design studio page should explain who can visit, what to prepare and which decisions the visit can support. Describe displays as examples with stated limits. Give buyers a question sheet before the visit and a written summary afterward. Keep preferences, confirmed selections and order authorization separate throughout the conversation.

## Who is the visit for?

Start your page with the visit's purpose and the buyer stage it serves. Is the visit an introduction to your process? Is it a discussion for buyers with an accepted project? Publish only the eligibility your team has confirmed. Leave booking availability, duration and any included consulting unstated until the responsible role verifies them.

Describe the visit outcome in concrete terms. You might propose a list of questions for later review, a comparison of documented options or preparation for a selections meeting. Choose the description that matches your process. Avoid a broad promise that buyers can design their entire home during a visit.

Keep this page within your [builder sales process](/articles/sales-process/). A prospective buyer needs orientation before detailed selections. An existing buyer needs the current project basis. Give each audience its own preparation instructions when your verified visit policy serves both.

Identify the role that confirms fit for the visit. Explain what that role needs to know, such as the buyer's project stage and main questions. Do not imply that submitting an inquiry reserves access. If your team has not settled a visit policy, resolve that policy before publishing an invitation.

## What should you bring?

Publish a short preparation list approved by the role conducting the visit. Ask buyers to identify the room or decision behind each question. A general request for inspiration gives the discussion less direction than a question about two finishes for the same room.

For an existing project, ask which document revision should accompany the questions. Do not ask buyers to assemble technical records your team has not requested. For an introductory visit, say which project details are useful and which are optional. Keep private documents out of the public inquiry path.

Explain how to label reference images. Ask the buyer to describe the feature they want to discuss, such as a color relationship or storage arrangement. A reference image should prompt a question. Do not treat it as an instruction to reproduce a room or as evidence that your team offers everything pictured.

### Which questions belong on the preparation sheet?

- Which room or part of the home does this question concern?

- What would you like to compare during the visit?

- Which current project record should the team use?

- What do you need explained before making a later choice?

- Which questions need a responsible reviewer outside the visit?

Give buyers room to write “unknown.” They may not know the current specification, the relevant drawing or the status of an option. Make the visit brief a place to identify those gaps. Do not turn missing preparation into an assumed project fact.

Record the actual preparation [handoff](/process/handoff/) in your [Operating profile](/process/operating-profile/). That record should identify who checks the questions and who confirms the visit scope. Public instructions should use the same role labels.

## What do displays establish?

Label the status of every display you describe. A displayed sample establishes what the buyer can examine in that setting. It does not establish inclusion, availability or suitability for a particular home. Attach any broader statement to the record that supports it.

| Status | What to explain | What remains separate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Displayed sample | An example available for discussion under the stated visit scope | Project inclusion, availability and suitability |
| Documented option | An option described in an identified current record | Acceptance for the buyer's specific project |
| Confirmed selection | A choice accepted through the builder's documented selection process | Any remaining review and release requirements |
| Order authorization | The authorization recorded under the builder's purchasing process | Later order, receipt and verification records |

Use these distinctions as editorial prompts. Map them to your existing status terms before publication. The [selections communication guide](/articles/sales-process/selections-process-communication/) covers approvals and releases after choices enter the project record. Your studio page should prepare buyers for that process.

When you publish studio images, state what each image shows and why it matters to the visit. For informative images, the text alternative should communicate the image's meaning in context. The [W3C informative-image tutorial](https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/informative/) explains this approach in its overview and second example. That guidance concerns image presentation, not material performance or project suitability.

A caption can distinguish a display from a project selection. Keep the distinction visible near the image. Do not rely on a general disclaimer elsewhere to explain whether an illustrated feature belongs in the buyer's home. If the display's current status is unknown, leave its project claims unpublished.

## What can be decided?

Describe decisions at the level your visit supports. A buyer might identify a preference or agree which records require review. A project selection needs the approvals your process requires. Avoid wording that turns an exploratory conversation into permission to order.

Use a repeatable discussion sequence. The following sequence is an original editorial proposal for your team to adapt. It is not a requirement from an industry organization.

1. **Confirm the purpose.** State the visit scope before reviewing samples.

2. **Locate the question.** Connect each question to a room and the available project record.

3. **Identify the evidence.** State whether the discussion uses a display, a documented option or a current selection.

4. **Record the outcome.** Distinguish a preference from a confirmed decision under your existing terms.

5. **Assign the review.** Give unresolved questions to the responsible role.

6. **Read back the boundary.** Explain which actions the visit record does and does not authorize.

Keep technical and commercial decisions pending when the necessary review has not occurred. Record a compatibility question for qualified project review. Route scope and purchasing questions to the roles your process assigns. Do not fill an unanswered field with a reassuring estimate or an assumed approval.

If a discussion changes a design direction, connect it to the current drawing record. The [design-phase communication guide](/articles/sales-process/design-phase-communication/) explains the later revision handoff. Your visit page can describe that next step without repeating the full revision procedure.

### How can buyers copy a studio visit brief?

Offer the following blank worksheet as text buyers can copy into their notes. Repeat the fields for each question. Keep unconfirmed answers marked unknown until the responsible role provides a record.

**Studio visit brief**

Buyer question: [What do you want to understand?]

Relevant room: [Room or unknown]

Sample or record requested: [Description and revision, or unknown]

Decision possible: [Discussion, preference or a decision confirmed by the team]

Limit: [What this discussion cannot establish]

Responsible role: [Role to confirm or assign]

Next step: [Required input and review path]

Keep the worksheet separate from any approval form. Its purpose is to organize the conversation. If your actual process permits an approval during the visit, identify the separate record and responsible authority. Do not let a completed question sheet acquire that meaning by accident.

## What happens after the visit?

Describe the summary buyers receive and who checks it. Separate discussed items, recorded preferences, confirmed decisions and open questions. Reference the project records behind confirmed decisions. Leave the summary method and delivery timing unknown until your team establishes them.

For each open question, name the responsible role and the next required input. An unresolved technical question needs project review. An unresolved scope question needs the applicable commercial review. Neither should appear as an accepted selection merely because it was discussed in the studio.

Review your public wording against the actual visit record. The [FTC Truth In Advertising guidance](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/topics/truth-advertising) states that advertising must be truthful and non-misleading. It does not prescribe this worksheet or verify a builder's services. Confirm each claim about your visit before using it.

### What would a fictional visit record look like?

This unnamed example is fictional. A prospective buyer wants to compare cabinet finish directions for a kitchen. The visit brief requests a sample comparison. The current specification, visit eligibility and product availability are unknown. The brief assigns the visit scope question to the role responsible for appointments.

Assume that role confirms a discussion-only visit for this example. The buyer records a preference for one displayed direction. The summary identifies it as a preference. It leaves product identity, inclusion, technical suitability and purchasing authorization pending. No project outcome, confirmed appointment policy or real product is represented.

### What could the public excerpt say?

This fictional excerpt illustrates wording after a discussion-only visit policy has been verified. It is not a statement about an actual builder.

Use the studio discussion to explain the rooms and choices you want to understand. Bring the question sheet requested by the team. We record preferences and open questions separately. A displayed sample does not confirm your project specification. Project review and purchasing authorization follow their own documented steps.

Before adapting that excerpt, confirm every sentence with the responsible role. The [guide to writing down your build process](/guides/writing-down-your-build-process/) provides the broader documentation method. If the studio page introduces design support, use the [in-house design page guide](/articles/sales-process/in-house-design-team-page-content/) to explain who performs that work.

## What else should a design studio page explain?

### Does a studio display show what every home includes?

A builder studio display does not establish what every home includes. Identify the applicable project specification before describing a displayed item as included. Keep display labels distinct from confirmed project selections.

### Can a buyer choose a preference during an introductory visit?

A studio visit can record a preference when that fits the verified visit scope. Label it as a preference. Use the builder's separate review and approval process before treating it as a confirmed selection.

### What should the post-visit summary contain?

A studio post-visit summary should separate discussion, preferences, confirmed decisions and open questions. Reference controlling records for confirmed items. Assign each unanswered question to a responsible role and identify its next required input.

### Should the page promise an appointment length?

A builder design studio page should state an appointment length only when the responsible role has confirmed it. Leave unverified duration and availability unstated. Explain the visit purpose and preparation without inventing a schedule.