Virtual Consultations
Making an Appointment
We offer 15-minute, 30-minute, and 60-minute virtual appointments!
When you make a virtual appointment, you will be asked to upload a draft of your project or share it with us via a link to a cloud-based file-sharing service (such as Google Drive or OneDrive). See “Sharing Your Project with DesignLab” below for help on how to do this.
Video projects: If you have a draft you would like us to view before your appointment, please export it as an MP4 or another non-editable format, and upload it or provide a link to the project in the appointment scheduler form. We cannot access your iMovie, Premiere Pro, or Final Cut files.
Audio projects: If you have a draft you would like us to listen to before your appointment, please export it as a WAV or MP3 file and upload it or provide a link to the project in the appointment scheduler form. We cannot access Audacity, Audition, or GarageBand files.
All Other Projects: We encourage you to upload a draft of your project or provide a link to it when making an appointment.
Note: All appointments must be scheduled at least 1 hour in advance. If you want to meet immediately, you can use our DesignLab Chat to see if someone is available.
Installing Zoom for your Desktop
Installing Zoom Workspace Desktop Application:
Helpful Links/Videos about Zoom:
Virtual Consultation FAQs
We want your consultation to feel like a conversation, where we will ask you questions and we expect you to ask us questions.
While we encourage everyone to meet with us however they are able, we recognize that some projects are easier to work with in virtual consultations than others.
We typically do not recommend scheduling a virtual consultation if you are working on a video or audio project or on other projects that are not easily shareable. If you do plan to make a virtual consultation for a video or audio project, see “Sharing Your Project with DesignLab” below to learn how to export your project.
We encourage you to take notes however you feel comfortable. We will not have notes to share with you after your appointment, so you must take and save your own notes. If you’re looking for note-taking software, we recommend Google Keep (virtual post-its) or Microsoft OneNote (virtual notebooks).
Please also note that anything shared in the Zoom chat will not be saved, so be sure to copy any links or files before the meeting ends.
Here are some helpful steps if you’re having difficulty accessing the Zoom meeting:
- If you are experiencing difficulty connecting:
- First, close Zoom and then try reopening it.
- If that doesn’t work, try restarting your computer.
- Email the DesignLab consultant directly by replying to the confirmation email to let them know you’re experiencing technical difficulties so they don’t cancel your appointment. They can try to work with you via email to help you get connected.
- We encourage you to search UW–Madison’s Zoom Knowledgebase (kb.wisc.edu/zoom) for additional troubleshooting steps.
You will be receiving communication via our staff’s direct DesignLab email. We encourage you to contact them before and during your scheduled appointment using that email address (especially if you experience connection issues). After your appointment, you may also direct any follow-up questions to that email or to designlab@wisc.edu.
You are also welcome to make another DesignLab appointment for more help!
Sharing Your Project(s) with DesignLab
DesignLab Permissions Statement
You own the rights to your project. DesignLab will not share your project with anyone outside of our staff without your express written consent.
If you have any questions/concerns about sharing your project(s), please email us at designlab@wisc.edu.
Files that can be uploaded via the appointment form:
- You can upload one image, document, or other file of up to 5 MB
- Please note that we cannot open raw files (prproj, aup3, etc.)
- We encourage you to export the following so we can access your project:
- Visual files as PDF (document file) or JPEG/PNG (image file)
- Video files as MP4 (compressed video file)
- Audio files as MP3 (compressed audio file)
How to share a link to a file or folder using a cloud-based file-sharing system:
How to share AUDIO files:
You will need to export your editable file as an MP3, WAV, or another compressed audio file that we can open. Below are instructions for Audacity, Audition, and GarageBand. Once you have exported the file, you can share the file with us using any of the cloud-based file-sharing services listed above.
How to share VIDEO files:
You will need to export your editable file as an MP4, MOV, or another compressed video format we can view. Below are instructions for iMovie, Premiere Pro, and Final Cut Pro. Once you have exported the file, you can share the file with us using any of the cloud-based file-sharing services listed above.