dot voting vs. idea rating sheets

Both are tools to help groups recognize their collective opinions

idea rating sheetsdot voting

dot voting

• Participants are each given a set number of dot stickers

• They place dot stickers next to statements they like

• Statements with the most dots “win”

idea rating sheets• Participants write their own statements, one idea per sheet• Use pens to fill-in one dot per sheet to rate their level of agreement

idea rating sheets• Participants write their own statements, one idea per sheet• Use pens to fill-in one dot per sheet to rate their level of agreement• Results show the degree of support or conflict on every idea

Dot voting & idea rating sheets are similar • Both are easy and fun to use• Both work well with children and adults• Both provide equal opportunity participation• Both work with a large number of participants• Both can be used in or outside of meetings• Both give visual results

What’s the difference?

idea rating sheetsare smarter than

dot voting

Here is why…

Works fine for prioritizing between a few distinct options, like in elections.

Reliable when done with ballots or online – less so with stickers.

Not effective for prioritizing among many ideas…

Dot voting: Is a cumulative voting method

It’s just a one question multiple-choice survey done with stickers

=

Dot voting:

Dot voting: limits creativity and diversity of ideas

Too many options become impossible to compare

Psychologists call this

“choice overload”

Dot voting: limits creativity and diversity of ideas

Can not add new ideas once voting has started

newidea

Dot voting: can give confusing or false results

Vote-splitting causes related ideas to lose unfairly

12 out of 18 people wanted vegetarian

but vote-splitting caused meat to win

Dot voting: can give confusing or false results

You can not tell if someone has cheated by removing stickers or adding extra dots

idea rating sheets are sophisticatedIt’s like idea rating software on paper

(aka “crowdsourcing”)

Opinion research standard Likert scale

Business planning best practice SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, 

Opportunities, & Threats) 

idea rating sheets are sophisticated

…and smiley

faces!(user-friendly interface)

idea rating sheets are sophisticated

Anyone can add new ideas at any time

idea rating sheets are sophisticated

No limit on the number of ideas presented

Participants only need to consider one idea at time

Can rate as many or as few ideas as they choose

idea rating sheets are sophisticated

Easily recognize levels of agreement or conflict

idea rating sheets are sophisticatedNo vote-splitting, so similar ideas are not penalized

most preferred

mostobjection

idea rating sheets are sophisticated

The number of signatures validates the number of dots

Optional comments gives some insight into dotting opinions

Who uses idea rating sheets?Over 4,000 international subscribers:

professional facilitators, educators, committee chairs, business managers, & community and organization leaders

Facilitators Survey (2012)

Get the sheets, instructions and facilitator’s handbook

for free at:

IdeaRatingSheets.org