Ask for sign-off on a design

Ask the people who manage a design to approve a version, decide when you are asked, and send one outside person an approval link.

In short

A sign-off records that the people who manage a design agreed on a version. "Approve design" is asked before it is built; "Accept as built" once it is built. The design then shows "Signed off r14 by 2 of 2", and says "Changed since sign-off" when someone changes it later.

Before you start

Who: the people asked must manage the design; you can ask at most 10. A stakeholder outside needs no account.
Plan: Designer is part of every plan, Free included. The Free plan limits how many designs a workspace keeps; Plan & usage shows the limit and what you hold. The Free plan limits how many live approval links are open at a time; a decided, revoked or ended link frees its place.
First: share the design with the people who approve, at the Manage level. Keep the version you want signed saved.

Steps

Open the design, choose "Review" and then "Sign-off and proof".
Press "Ask for sign-off" and choose "What to ask": "Approve design" or "Accept as built".
Under "Who approves", add the people who decide, and choose "How many must approve".
To ask in turn - for example the architects first, then security - press "Add an approval round". Give each round its people and "How many must approve" and, in an organization, the "Team this round speaks for". A round's people must be members of its team or of a team under it.
Press "Ask them". The version saved now is kept for the sign-off.

Press "Your decision is asked" in the sign-off panel (the "Review" menu says "Sign-off and proof: your decision is asked"), or open the item in your inbox or on Home.
Choose "Approve" or "Decline" and, if you like, write "Why".
Type "Your password" to confirm it is you, and press "Send my decision".

In "Approval by someone outside", press "Share for approval".
Type "Their email address" and "Days the link lasts" (1 to 30).
Choose "I copy the link" or "{{brand}} emails it", and press "Make the link". Copy it now - it is shown only once.

Result: the approval page shows the person the version's steps and journeys and lets them approve or decline once, with no account. Their decision and reason appear in the list.

Good to know

Whoever asks, whoever wrote that version and whoever builds it never approve it. The people asked must manage the design; you can ask at most 10.
One sign-off of each kind can wait at a time. "Withdraw" ends one so you can ask again.
"Compare" beside "Changed since sign-off" marks on the canvas what changed since the signed version.
An account that signs in only through its identity provider leaves the password empty.
Organizations can switch on "Approve design before a plan is made" under "Designer settings" in the header menu of the Designs list. Then a workflow's plan is made only from an approved version.
The Free plan keeps 3 live approval links at a time. A decided, revoked or ended link frees its place.
What happens next: each person asked sees the request in their inbox and on Home. Their decision, with the reason, appears in the list. "Withdraw" ends a waiting sign-off, and an approval link that is revoked or ended frees its place.
Steps are decided one after another, up to five steps and twenty people. Only the people of the step whose turn it is can decide; the next step's people are told once it is approved. A step declined by so many that it can no longer be approved declines the whole sign-off.

A record, not an e-signature A sign-off is a recorded approval in {{brand}}, not a regulated electronic signature.

If something goes wrong

"A sign-off of each kind is already waiting. Withdraw one to ask again."
"Choose at least one person who manages this design." - the people asked must manage it; share it with them first.
"All 3 live links of your plan are in use." - revoke one or wait for a decision.
"This link was already used to decide." - each approval link takes one decision.