Description Long

Dotmocracy is a method in which ideas are democratically evaluated within a group. It is easy to implement and requires minimal preparation. The approach allows for anonymous and equal voting on proposals. Each participant is given sticky dots, which they can allocate to the ideas according to specific criteria – for example, green for positive, red for negative. The visually immediate results help to quickly identify the most popular ideas and preferences within the group. These selected ideas can then be further developed. The use of both positive and negative dots, or evaluation across multiple criteria, also helps to highlight controversial or polarising suggestions.

Illustration

Preparation

• Visible presentation of the available ideas.
• Define criteria for evaluating the ideas.
• Provide sticky dots in different colours.
• Online: A way must be found to mark coloured spots on images or in tables. Digital whiteboards such as Miro or MURAL are well suited for this purpose.

Execution

1. The method and the evaluation criteria are explained, and sticky dots are distributed.
2. Before each round of voting, the specific criterion for evaluation is announced.
3. Participants place their sticky dots accordingly.
4. The ideas to be further developed are identified.

Hints from experience

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• Consider which criteria you would like participants to use for the evaluation. Multiple aspects such as the "wow factor" or "feasibility" can be assessed. Different aspects can be distinguished using sticky dots in different colours.
• Clarify in advance: Are participants allowed to vote for their own ideas? Are multiple votes on the same idea permitted?
• Decide how many sticky dots each participant will receive.
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Tools list

• Sticky dots
• Matrix, coordinate system on paper

References

http://kreativitätstechniken.info/dotmocracy/

http://dotmocracy.org

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dotmocracy