Energy Dots

Quickly prioritize ideas and involve more people in the design process early

There is a user experience facilitation method called dot voting. I don’t think it gets enough use and its benefits are glorious and mysterious. There are only a few simple things we will do to make it work.

You will need:

• Sharpie or Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens
• Post-it Super Sticky Notes
• See-Thru™ Removable Color Dots
• A digital whiteboard like Figjam or Miro

Make it work #

Setup #

1. Pair it with another method like rapid sketching, crazy 8s, a mood board, or some existing concepts.
2. Take these things and spread them out in a digital or physical space.
3. Find participants. These can be collaborators, clients, and decision makers.

Do the thing #

4. Decide on some voting criteria. The group should agree to vote based on one or more criteria like: ease of use, feasibility, business impact, desirability, accessibility, or even just excitement and motivation for the team to build it.
5. Distribute the voting dots. They can be physical stickers or digital shapes and should be small so they don’t cover too much information. Sometimes it is great if the dots are slightly transparent because you can read what is underneath. Bonus points for using different colored dots for different voting criteria.
6. Set things up so they will photograph well. We want to give people confidence in their decision making. Photos memorialize the energy of the design process. Make those sketches more visible by using marker.
7. Set a timer and let people vote according to the criteria. If you are using a digital space you can make the voting anonymous so that participants don’t influence other’s decisions.

Wrap up #

8. A heatmap will be formed and some of the best ideas will immediately be easy to spot.
9. Review and discuss.
10. Decide on some next steps like implement the design or pack up and go for drinks.

Using crafts and art supplies to solve business problems can seem a little strange. Sometimes people need some help understanding or some encouragement to get started. Tell then that we are going to “visualize the vote” and it is going to provide confidence in our decision making. Also know that there are no right or wrong answers. The voting helps us pick a direction to go in and then we can easily pivot later if needed.

Of course, not everyone will agree, but we find that the design decisions will have much more support when more people are involved in the process early. Voices get heard.

One more thing #

As a companion to this post I authored a little Figjam community file with some of my favorite tips and tricks. It includes some of my favorite workshop activities: Hi five zone, voting, and other facilitation tips. With a little bit of preparation the work can be more collaborative and creative. Have fun!

More about that #

• Dot Voting from 18F Guides
• Luma Institute Visualize the Vote
• Dot Voting: A Simple Decision-Making and Prioritization Method in UX from NN/g
• Dot Voting from Google Design Sprints