Dealing Out a Better Goal-Setting Process

One LPA researcher’s idea sparked a process that developed a new way for clients and designers to discuss a project’s goals and priorities.

The LPA Goal-Setting Card Deck^TM is composed of 80 cards that are “played” by discussing and ranking potential design outcomes. The deck establishes a common language for reviewing project goals related to human experience and wellness, building performance and community impact. By gathering the client’s perspective and insight into a range of topics, designers can build early consensus around the project vision and generate targeted strategies that best represent the client’s real-world objectives.

The idea emerged to solve the communication gap between designers and clients, which tends to occur during early stages of design and often results in costly rework. Clients struggle to articulate their vision, while designers intuitively jump to technical design strategies. Rachel Nasland, a member of the Sustainability + Applied Research team, suggested gamifying the process with common, easy-to-understand language that is relatable to clients, yet adaptable to each discipline, practice or studio. This sparked a firmwide effort to vet various methodologies, landing on “card sorting,” a well-supported research technique in interactive workshop formats. Tactile and versatile, cards can be held, passed around and arranged to demonstrate meaningful relationships. To ensure a comprehensive view, the Sustainability + Applied Research team created a master spreadsheet that cross-references every card with existing design frameworks such as LEED, WELL and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Framework for Design Excellence.

The final product reflects lessons learned from an extensive testing process. Ultimately, 30 copies of the deck were professionally manufactured and distributed to LPA’s six studios, along with game boards, support materials and an electronic Mural version. In the six months since it was introduced, the deck has been used on more than a dozen projects, helping to cut through assumptions about budget, identify revenue-generating opportunities and sharpen project focus on occupant health and wellness.

“I’ve never felt something was done so thoughtfully,” said Pooja Bhakta, cofounder of the Dallas-based nonprofit Do Better, after using the card deck. “I need a deck like this to organize my life.”