01
Gather the Influence Clues
You collect your known contacts, decisions, approvals, and constraints without assuming that a job title proves decision authority.
Made for Architects
Map Who Can Shape or Stop Your Design
Also useful for: Project Managers, people in Creative
25 min
Intermediate
Decisions
Get Something Done
Turn a mixed list of clients, consultants, authorities, and internal contacts into a clear map of who influences the design and when you need each person involved.
We'll use them to write your prompt.
Completed ✓
Make Your Play
Give us the situation. We’ll build the prompt.
You can avoid late objections, missed approvals, and redesign by finding the people who control decisions or constraints before your concept gains momentum.
Your answers save as you type.
What you'll do
This is the plan inside your prompt. Add your details first. Then follow these steps with ChatGPT or Claude.
02
Produce Your Influence Map
You run the compiled prompt to sort each contact by practical influence, required timing, and the consequence of involving that contact too late.
03
Verify the Decision Path
You correct assumptions and turn the map into immediate outreach before relying on it for design decisions.
Make Your Play
Map Who Can Shape or Stop Your Design
Tell us what the prompt needs to know
Start with the questions below. Each answer personalizes the playbook and builds the prompt you’ll use at the end.
Your situation
Describe your project type, scope, location, client goals, and the design work now underway.
0/10000
Choose your current project stage so consultation timing matches the work ahead.
List your known client contacts, users, consultants, authorities, contractors, funders, operators, and internal team members, including uncertain roles.
0/10000
List your known decisions, approval gates, site limits, budget limits, code questions, operational needs, and unresolved conflicts.
0/10000
This playbook was updated. Review your inputs before copying.
What you'll do
Check a step when you finish it.
01
Gather the Influence Clues
You collect your known contacts, decisions, approvals, and constraints without assuming that a job title proves decision authority.
02
Produce Your Influence Map
You run the compiled prompt to sort each contact by practical influence, required timing, and the consequence of involving that contact too late.
03
Verify the Decision Path
You correct assumptions and turn the map into immediate outreach before relying on it for design decisions.
Fill in the fields above to generate your prompt preview.
Assembled prompt
Beginner instructions
Start with roles and organizations, even if you don’t know every person’s name. Include anyone who can approve, fund, review, operate, regulate, build, or significantly change your design. Mark uncertain information as an assumption instead of filling gaps with guesses.
Advanced instructions
Add the exact design decisions each contact can affect, such as program, budget, planning approval, life safety, structure, operations, procurement, or constructability. Challenge informal influence separately from formal approval authority, and note where your contractual communication path limits direct contact.
Use this when
Use this when you start concept design, inherit an unclear project, prepare for a kickoff, or notice conflicting direction from different contacts.
You'll need
- Project Summary
- Current Project Stage
- Known Contacts and Organizations
- Decisions, Approvals, and Constraints
You'll get
- Your decision approvers identified
- Your constraint controllers identified
- Your design contributors identified
- Your early consultees identified
- Every unconfirmed authority visible before you advance the concept
- Every uncovered constraint visible before you advance the concept
By the end of this playbook
You will have:
- Your decision approvers identified
- Your constraint controllers identified
- Your design contributors identified
- Your early consultees identified
- Every unconfirmed authority visible before you advance the concept
- Every uncovered constraint visible before you advance the concept
Examples
Progress 1 of 3