Q4 2025PlatformGenerative

Platform Model (BIM) Viewer

Research by Ian Wyosnick

Overview

This project explores the development of a unified 3D BIM viewer platform to support workflows and collaboration within the construction and manufacturing sectors, including home builders, estimators, and component manufacturers. The research focus is on identifying needs and opportunities related to accessing, visualizing, and interacting with BIM models throughout various stages of the project lifecycle. By understanding the challenges and expectations users face with current BIM viewer tools, the project seeks to inform the design of a new platform that streamlines processes such as estimating, quality control, documentation, field coordination, and communication.

The research consisted of in-depth interviews with Simpson teams and customers from various roles across the home building and component manufacturing industries, including experienced Revit users, estimators, product managers, and field personnel. These sessions explored current workflows, frustrations, feature needs, and future aspirations, yielding detailed insights into user pain points and requirements to inform the BIM viewer's design direction.

Exec Summary

Interviews revealed that current BIM viewers are largely used for simple visualization or storage, with limited access for non-drafting roles and minimal support for collaboration, markup, or conflict resolution. Estimators, vendors, and field teams often lack the tools to trace quantities in the BOM back to specific model elements, resulting in workflow bottlenecks and reliance on drafting teams to verify data.

Participants expressed strong demand for a unified, browser-based BIM viewer that is easy to use, improves traceability, supports version comparison, facilitates quality control, and enables better communication and collaboration among all stakeholders.

Findings

Estimators lack traceability between BOM key measures and specific elements in the BIM model Estimators often receive only aggregate material quantities (such as total lineal feet or counts) without clear indication of which elements in the BIM model these numbers are derived from. This makes it challenging to verify estimates, trace discrepancies, or respond to vendor questions without requiring help from drafting teams.

"The vendor, of course, reach out and go, let's just see how y'all came up with the data. I can't sit in a meeting and open up, you know, a plan booking go, let's just walk through the house, accordingly. And so it's that validation of we do ask the vendors to show us their work, and it gets a little hard, you know, seeing in these meetings to talk to different vendors across the in the East Coast that we're building through of of how we come up with our data."

Alex Morris - Stanley Martin Homes

Limited BIM access for non-drafting roles leads to workflow bottlenecks Roles such as estimators, vendors, and field teams frequently do not have Revit or specialized software, resulting in difficulties reviewing and validating models. This limited access creates inefficiencies and can impede coordination across teams.

"I don't have a Revit license anymore, so I would need an alternative way to view this. But this makes me think of, the estimating team on the Stanley Martin side of things... this is a a very recent conversation about I can't review because I don't have Revit. It would be helpful to have some kind of viewer."

Denise Sorber - SST

"When I was working with True Homes on some stuff, their estimator doesn't have access to Revit. So we had a print set basically of, like, key measure views is what we called them that had different things highlighted and, like, color coded."

Emily Franke - SST

Users want simple, side-by-side model version comparisons to understand changes Stakeholders need a straightforward way to compare different versions of BIM models and visualize what has changed, enabling them to explain impacts on costs and streamline communication with vendors.

"[Is having a feature that compares the previous version to the latest version and shows you what changed, would that be beneficial?]"

"That would be my top wish list right there."

Alex Morris - Stanley Martin Homes

Current BIM viewers are limited to visualization, lacking markup and collaboration features Existing BIM viewers are predominantly used as visualization or storage tools; collaborative review, conflict resolution, and markup are rarely performed within them, keeping communication siloed within drafting teams.

"I mean, it kinda goes back to how close their ties are with Cornerstone, and that kinda thing. But, I mean, you talk to, say, like, Stanley Martins in my area, or some of the others, around, they keep asking. They're like, why do the builders keep cutting through the webs of our trusses? And, you know, I mean, that's kind of some of the power of being able to send a three d viewer right into it. It's just to show them, like, there's no reason for you to cut through it. This is where it's supposed to go. So it can help communicate that back and forth, with that."

Trey Rowe - SST

Simplicity and intuitiveness are essential for widespread adoption The new solution must be "brutally easy" to use so that non-technical team members feel empowered to validate and explore the model without specialized training.

"But I'm also I'm automatically thinking how easy is it gonna be? We know that there is a real barrier to entry, just the pipeline program alone. I can't even speak to Revit because I've never been in Revit, you know, I've never been in Revit, really. And so it's like, ugh. It's gotta be easy."

Todd Bransford - SST

Field and client workflows need quick, browser-based access to models via QR codes or links Field installers, production managers, and customers benefit from scanning a QR code or following a link to open a relevant 3D view—improving installation accuracy and clarifying project intent without additional software.

"The viewer would basically give them access to the cornerstone project, DWG, you know, and open that up, and they could spin it around. And maybe if we could highlight the panel that they've, you know, QR code, you know, took out took their shot up, something like that."

Ryan Fischer - SST

Stakeholders want to see prioritized progress toward core pain points before advanced features While advanced features like markup and clash detection are welcome, users express a strong desire to prioritize MVP delivery focused on solving the most immediate problems: traceability and visual validation.

"But theorizing and talking about it and coming up with every bell and whistle we need and doing nothing is much worse than at least getting a few things down."

Hans Rees - SST

← Back to Research Repository

Q4 2025PlatformGenerative

Platform Model (BIM) Viewer

Research by Ian Wyosnick

Overview

This project explores the development of a unified 3D BIM viewer platform to support workflows and collaboration within the construction and manufacturing sectors, including home builders, estimators, and component manufacturers. The research focus is on identifying needs and opportunities related to accessing, visualizing, and interacting with BIM models throughout various stages of the project lifecycle. By understanding the challenges and expectations users face with current BIM viewer tools, the project seeks to inform the design of a new platform that streamlines processes such as estimating, quality control, documentation, field coordination, and communication.

The research consisted of in-depth interviews with Simpson teams and customers from various roles across the home building and component manufacturing industries, including experienced Revit users, estimators, product managers, and field personnel. These sessions explored current workflows, frustrations, feature needs, and future aspirations, yielding detailed insights into user pain points and requirements to inform the BIM viewer's design direction.

Exec Summary

Interviews revealed that current BIM viewers are largely used for simple visualization or storage, with limited access for non-drafting roles and minimal support for collaboration, markup, or conflict resolution. Estimators, vendors, and field teams often lack the tools to trace quantities in the BOM back to specific model elements, resulting in workflow bottlenecks and reliance on drafting teams to verify data.

Participants expressed strong demand for a unified, browser-based BIM viewer that is easy to use, improves traceability, supports version comparison, facilitates quality control, and enables better communication and collaboration among all stakeholders.

Findings

Estimators lack traceability between BOM key measures and specific elements in the BIM model Estimators often receive only aggregate material quantities (such as total lineal feet or counts) without clear indication of which elements in the BIM model these numbers are derived from. This makes it challenging to verify estimates, trace discrepancies, or respond to vendor questions without requiring help from drafting teams.

"The vendor, of course, reach out and go, let's just see how y'all came up with the data. I can't sit in a meeting and open up, you know, a plan booking go, let's just walk through the house, accordingly. And so it's that validation of we do ask the vendors to show us their work, and it gets a little hard, you know, seeing in these meetings to talk to different vendors across the in the East Coast that we're building through of of how we come up with our data."

Alex Morris - Stanley Martin Homes

Limited BIM access for non-drafting roles leads to workflow bottlenecks Roles such as estimators, vendors, and field teams frequently do not have Revit or specialized software, resulting in difficulties reviewing and validating models. This limited access creates inefficiencies and can impede coordination across teams.

"I don't have a Revit license anymore, so I would need an alternative way to view this. But this makes me think of, the estimating team on the Stanley Martin side of things... this is a a very recent conversation about I can't review because I don't have Revit. It would be helpful to have some kind of viewer."

Denise Sorber - SST

"When I was working with True Homes on some stuff, their estimator doesn't have access to Revit. So we had a print set basically of, like, key measure views is what we called them that had different things highlighted and, like, color coded."

Emily Franke - SST

Users want simple, side-by-side model version comparisons to understand changes Stakeholders need a straightforward way to compare different versions of BIM models and visualize what has changed, enabling them to explain impacts on costs and streamline communication with vendors.

"[Is having a feature that compares the previous version to the latest version and shows you what changed, would that be beneficial?]"

"That would be my top wish list right there."

Alex Morris - Stanley Martin Homes

Current BIM viewers are limited to visualization, lacking markup and collaboration features Existing BIM viewers are predominantly used as visualization or storage tools; collaborative review, conflict resolution, and markup are rarely performed within them, keeping communication siloed within drafting teams.

"I mean, it kinda goes back to how close their ties are with Cornerstone, and that kinda thing. But, I mean, you talk to, say, like, Stanley Martins in my area, or some of the others, around, they keep asking. They're like, why do the builders keep cutting through the webs of our trusses? And, you know, I mean, that's kind of some of the power of being able to send a three d viewer right into it. It's just to show them, like, there's no reason for you to cut through it. This is where it's supposed to go. So it can help communicate that back and forth, with that."

Trey Rowe - SST

Simplicity and intuitiveness are essential for widespread adoption The new solution must be "brutally easy" to use so that non-technical team members feel empowered to validate and explore the model without specialized training.

"But I'm also I'm automatically thinking how easy is it gonna be? We know that there is a real barrier to entry, just the pipeline program alone. I can't even speak to Revit because I've never been in Revit, you know, I've never been in Revit, really. And so it's like, ugh. It's gotta be easy."

Todd Bransford - SST

Field and client workflows need quick, browser-based access to models via QR codes or links Field installers, production managers, and customers benefit from scanning a QR code or following a link to open a relevant 3D view—improving installation accuracy and clarifying project intent without additional software.

"The viewer would basically give them access to the cornerstone project, DWG, you know, and open that up, and they could spin it around. And maybe if we could highlight the panel that they've, you know, QR code, you know, took out took their shot up, something like that."

Ryan Fischer - SST

Stakeholders want to see prioritized progress toward core pain points before advanced features While advanced features like markup and clash detection are welcome, users express a strong desire to prioritize MVP delivery focused on solving the most immediate problems: traceability and visual validation.

"But theorizing and talking about it and coming up with every bell and whistle we need and doing nothing is much worse than at least getting a few things down."

Hans Rees - SST

← Back to Research Repository