The skill and its purpose
Consolidation means making review inputs understandable and actionable. It does not mean accepting every comment or allowing the designer to choose between contradictory requirements without an owner. Keep each original comment attributable to its reviewer, version and page. A consolidated instruction should explain the chosen resolution and who had authority to decide it.
Work through the decision
Group duplicate comments and identify conflicts explicitly. Separate wording corrections, layout preferences, technical requirements and out-of-scope requests. Ask the accountable content or brand owner to resolve disagreement. Record a clear instruction for the next version and mark comments addressed only after checking the actual result. Preserve rejected or deferred suggestions with their reason instead of silently removing them.
Practical exercise — fictional
Two fictional reviewers request different opening hours on the same proof. A third asks for a larger logo. Build a comment table with version, issue, owner and resolution status. Identify the hours decision as a content conflict and the logo request as a separate visual review. Write one unambiguous instruction after the authorised owner confirms the hours.
Take it to the next job
- Retain original comments and their provenance.
- Separate duplicates from actual conflicts.
- Assign the appropriate resolution owner.
- Verify changes in the next exact version.
Try the decision
The exercise stays in this session unless you choose to save it.
