In this case study, we sit down with Sara Schonour, a lighting designer at Luxi and an avid user of Sourcery, to explore her experiences with our platform.

You can watch the full interview to discover why Sara started using Sourcery, where she has found success, and areas she believes could be improved. For a quick overview, continue reading below for the TL;DR key notes from the interview!

What lead you to seek out a tool like Sourcery?

[Sara Schonour] As I've told you before, Paul, I was listening to your podcast with The Light Pod and it resonated with me. At the time, I was leading Canon's lighting studio. We had a distributed team across several offices, using different systems like Revit. It was challenging to manage our standard products across various projects. I was inspired when you mentioned Sourcery as a centralized platform, which was exactly what we were trying to create internally.

What were some of the specific pain points you faced in projects?

[Sara Schonour] One major issue is errors—if you make an error in one place or if a product update isn't caught, it can lead to discrepancies with what's in the field or available on the shelf, creating many headaches. Sourcery's ability to help keep information up to date, and the simplicity of communicating within the platform to verify part numbers and updates, saves us significant time.

With Sourcery, did you notice any positive changes with communication?

[Sara Schonour] Absolutely. We noticed about 400 comments would show up over a year-long design phase, which translated to 400 emails we didn't have to send. The ability to have a searchable history and log of comments helps us manage changes in the team or project stops and starts without losing vital information.

What prompted you to finally decide to use Sourcery?

[Sara Schonour] The breaking point was realizing the need for a single source of truth. Duplication and redundancy in information can lead to errors. With Sourcery centralizing information, it made the decision straightforward.

What other tools or processes that are part of your workflow?

[Sara Schonour] I use Light Stanza for calculations, and I see a future where Sourcery collections can be integrated directly, saving more time. The mobile capabilities of Sourcery also allow me to access information on-the-go, which is crucial for on-site decisions and remote work.

If you could improve one aspect of Sourcery, what would it be?

The integration with Revit is crucial for us. We need Sourcery to communicate seamlessly with 3D environments to enhance our workflow further. I'm excited about the developments in this area and look forward to its implementation.