Dotmocracy

What is this technique about

The dotmocracy method allows a group to democratically evaluate ideas. The method is simple and can be done with little preparation. It allows shy or reticent participants to make an evaluation for themselves. Each participant is given sticky dots to distribute among the ideas. The distribution can also be done according to criteria. For example, green stands for positive or red for negative. The visualisation helps to make a quick evaluation of attractive ideas or to identify preferences within the group. In this way, the evaluated ideas can be further developed. The distribution of positive and negative points or the evaluation according to criteria also enables the identification of controversial ideas.

Where does it come from 

The origins of dot-voting are unclear. Professional facilitators are said to have been using it since the 1980s. Dot-voting is now widely used for making quick collaborative decisions by teams adopting agile and lean methodologies. For example, it is one of the methods endorsed by the 18F digital services agency of the United States’ General Services Administration, and is part of the Design Sprint methodology.

For which purposes it is used (why in your engineering teaching)

Dotmocracy is an established facilitation method used to describe voting with dot stickers or marks with a marker pen.

How to use it

In Dotmocracy, participants vote on their chosen options using a limited number of stickers. It is a simple group activity that tries to recognize group preferences among limited options:

• • Participants are each given a set number of dot stickers.
  • They place dot stickers next to options presented that they like.
  • Options with the most dots “win”.