Alternative prototypes

DOT VOTING

30 minutes

A whiteboard, table or wall where to put the ideas for voting
Round dot stickers. Alternatively small sticky notes or other shapes of stickers.
Sticky notes
Markers of different colours

What is this tool and what is its purpose and benefit?

Dot voting is used for selecting and narrowing ideas. It can also be used for selecting concepts. Voting is done with round stickers, and the ideas with most votes are selected.

Steps how to use this tool in practice

Ideally, this tool is used by a group. A single person using dot voting could instead harness customers or social media, such as Pinterest, for voting and opinions.

STEP 1

Prepare the ideas or concepts for voting by posting them on a wall or white board, or laying them out on tables. Remember to leave space for people to move around them.

STEP 2

Brief participants about the goals and distribute round stickers to them. Each should have less stickers than there are ideas, for example 6 stickers for 10 ideas. Ask participants to put a sticker next to the ideas they like the most. Alternatively they can also draw a cross on the voting area under each idea. Give participants 5 minutes to complete this activity. The time might be longer if there are many participants. In such cases the voting groups can also be divided or have schedules shifts.

STEP 3

Calculate the vote and select 3-5 ideas with most votes for further development.

STEP 4

If needed, run a second round of evaluation to select the ideas, for example if there are the same number of votes for ideas or concepts.

STEP 5

After selecting the ideas give each participant 5 minutes to write comments on sticky notes for each selected idea.

STEP 6

Discuss the selected ideas together to further specify and develop ideas. Ideas can also be combined together.

Tips and hints for using this tool

Different kinds of stickers can be used to provoke different emotions and motivate, for example heart or star shaped stickers or stickers for children, or other objects such as darts, stamps or jelly beans.