@stake is a multiplayer roleplaying game designed to emulate group deliberation and foster “creativity and empathy during small group deliberation” of 3-5 players. From the National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation’s page on @stake: How to play @stake: What is it about? : Before the game takes place, the play group must brainstorm topics for the game. The topics selected should be important questions for whatever real world process matters most to the players and their organization (ex. “How can we get young people more involved in local issues?”). The Decider : Once the question for each round has been established, one player becomes the first “Decider,” the player who will pick from the other players’ pitches and determine which is best. It’s up to them to keep time, promote fair play, and make prompt decisions in awarding points. Role Cards : All other players are assigned roles such as Mayor, Activist, or Student. Each role card features a short bio and three agenda goals that the players try to include in their pitches for bonus points. The Pitch : Players hear the question for the round, and are then given one minute to devise an idea. Pitching occurs in two phases. Each player has one minute to give their initial pitch to the Decider, and then there is a short discussion period during which players may ask questions of one another and try to achieve compromises to attach their agenda items to others’ plans. Decider : At the end of the round, the Decider must pick a winning pitch. That winning player earns points, then every player earns bonus points based on their agenda items. The new decider is the player that won the previous round. @stake was originally developed in 2013 as a tabletop card game , but in 2015, its team received funding from the Knight Foundation to create an online version that is compatible with desktop, mobile, and tablet devices. @stake was developed by a team led by principal investigator Eric Gordon and project manager Becky Michelson as part of the Engagement Lab at Emerson College. The project page on the Engagement Lab’s website can be found here .
Tools (10)
Decision-Maker is an online voting and poll software that utilizes a number of voting systems (the modified Borda count for decision-making; quota Borda system for electoral systems; and the matrix vote for governance). More information on each of the voting systems can be found here . Created ballots can be designated as public or private and set with a designated closing date & time. User actions include view (to read more details about the vote), vote (designate user choice(s)), voter profile (view information about the voters), results (view the results of the vote), and analysis (provides analytics and information about the vote). Decision-Maker uses Drupal 7 , and is co-developed by the de Borda Institute based in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK) and CiviQ based in Milford, Massachusetts (US).
DecisionTree® is a set of innovative web-based geographic decision-making tools that enable business owners, citizens, or government agencies to weight multiple geographic factors and generate “hot spots” or a “heat” map that highlights optimal locations for activities based on selected factors and importance. Features of DecisionTree include: Interactive criteria weighting : Users prioritize locations by assigning weights to the criteria of significance to them. Weights can be set manually by moving a slider bar or by typing a number between -5 and 5. DecisionTree calculates the locations best meeting the weighted criteria. View individual or aggregated search results : Users can view not only the map of hotspots based on the combined criteria but also the results for each individual criterion included in the search. Save analysis scenarios to your account : Once individualized criteria weights have been determined, these settings can be saved to users’ accounts for future retrieval. Link to additional resources : Supports ‘smartlinks’ which connect to additional resources based on a selected map location. For example, selection of a parcel might enable linking to a crime mapping application centered on that parcel. Calculation masks : Limits calculations to specific areas such as tax incentive areas, a particular municipality or other zones. Customize map display : DecisionTree enables users considerable control over the final map display including several choices for color ramps, adjustable transparency of the prioritization layer, and the ability to turn off or on additional resource map layers. Integration with ESRI products : DecisionTree results can be integrated with ESRI products such as ArcGIS for further analysis. DecisionTree is developed by Azavea, a B corporation that creates civic geospatial software and data analytics for the web based in Philadelphia, PA (US). Update : DecisionTree has been discontinued and the most recent web archive of the tool can be found here .
From the case study: Demagora is a decision making system to improve direct democracy with people in your group, school, association, trade union or political party. Demagora is an innovative project that allows citizens and groups to achieve a wider form of participation in the decision making processes. Under “Vision”, the case study states: Its main feature is to collect and coordinate participation between individuals, allowing citizens to make proposals and submit them to the other users, to be commented, voted and improved by the community. Demagora was co-founded by Simone Gabbriellini and Leonardo Bertini, and is developed by the staff of Reflab . Update : Demagora has been discontinued. In order to access the site, view an archived copy .
Ethelo is an online deliberation tool that can be used both internally within a company or organization, and externally with constituents or community members. Ethelo’s key features include: measuring and comparing the distribution of support of submitted strategies in order to facilitate the process of consensus. For instance, if given one strategy that has polarized opinions on both sides of the spectrum, and another strategy that may have neutral opinions overall, Ethelo will rank the latter as the better strategy. scenario analysis that allows for stakeholders to make nuanced and specific choices, and for administrators to assess situations in detail. Ethelo does this “by breaking an issue into component pieces, called options, and adding rules by which those options can be combined, called constraints.” capability of all six levels of engagement as identified by the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2). Potential applications of Ethelo’s engagement are education, surveys, ideation, collaboration, decision-making. To learn more about Ethelo, view the tool’s introduction video (2 minutes), or their longer tutorial video (11 minutes). Case studies for Ethelo are available for a number of purposes, such as community planning , policy and governance , and e-democracy . Ethelo is developed by the Ethelo Team based in Vancouver, Canada.
GroupMind Express is a web-based tool that helps teams “make effective decisions based on shared data, resulting in increased alignment and faster implementation.”
Loomio is a collaborative decision-making platform that acts as a “secure and searchable archive of your discussions, decisions, and files” with “a suite of decision tools.” To use Loomio, users first create a group that poses one or multiple discussion questions. Groups can be set as either public or private, the former meaning that anyone can participate in the discussion and deliberation, and the latter meaning that only invited members may participate. Participants can contribute their opinions, respond to polls, and elaborate on their stance. All interactions and discussions are archived for record and further analysis. Loomio also offers scheduling tools, polls, prioritization, and Slack integration for business use. More information about features can be found here . A video tutorial of Loomio can be found here . Loomio is open-source and can be found on “Github”: https://github.com/loomio/loomio. Loomio is developed and based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Pol.is is a cloud-hosted SaaS that was conceived around the time of Occupy Wall Street and the Arab Spring with the goal of “scaling up” the government’s ability to listen to its citizens. The software relies on an innovative method for pinpointing areas of consensus. It works by creating a matrix from survey results and leveraging machine learning to make the data digestible through real-time visualizations (e.g. aggregation into opinion groups). From Participedia : Pol.is is a survey technology where the user clicks “agree,” “disagree,” or “pass” in response to statements others have contributed. The user can also enter their own statement for others to take positions on. Pol.is clusters users who voted similarly into opinion groups using realtime machine learning (artificial intelligence), and visualizes those groups in real time. Polis visually defines and gives space to divergent opinion groups and breaks the community’s deadlock by identifying the points of consensus. For additional details on the process, consult the video at the bottom of the homepage . Pol.is is particularly effective for getting better bottom up, open-ended feedback from large groups of people and hosting online discussions. Pol.is is open source; the code can be found on GitHub . The software is being developed by Polis Technology, Inc. out of Seattle, WA ( USA ).
SenseMaker® is a software system built on theories of natural rather than management science. It seeks to augment rather than replace human decision-making. The tool draws from the principles of complexity science (e.g. distributed cognition, fine-grained material, disintermediation) and mobilizes self-signified micro-narratives (or fragments) to assist group decision-making. The method employed “allows for continuous free capture of narrative with instant feedback.” From the about page : Through a web or app environment the software allows the capture of pictures, recordings and writing in various combinations to reflect how the respondents are making sense of the world. Human decision making is profoundly influenced by the day to day micro-narratives of the school gate, the water cooler and other social settings. SenseMaker® allows this material to be gathered easily and at low cost. In a patented method the respondent then interprets their own story into a series of abstract constructs that feel more like a game than a survey, but allow profound meaning to emerge. This interpretation adds layers of meaning rather than simply interpreting the story and provides quantitative data which can always be linked back to the original material. How does it work? The updated website can be found here . SenseMaker® is a registered trademark of Cognitive Edge , a Singapore-based management-consulting firm established in 2004.
Combining principles of crowdsourcing and collaborative negotiation, Thoughtexchange is a platform for the facilitation of information exchange and group conversation. The platform is used for community engagement, collaborative planning, border restructuring, facilities review and more. The company offers both corporate and education solutions. In the latter case, Thoughtexchange has been used for bond referendum preparation, strategic and facilities planning, student and staff engagement. Corporate leaders use the platform for change leadership, decision making, employee engagement, customer feedback, hiring, and on-boarding. In conversation with Michelle Sklar at the BC Tech Summit, Thoughtexchange CEO Dave Macleod and CTO Jim Firstbrook shed light on the process: First, we ask a few simple questions, people enter their thoughts in a way that others can’t see. Each participant is assigned a limited number of stars. Once answers have been entered, you are able to prioritize the important points and allocate your stars. After that we are able to take all of that data and do an analysis. Unlike surveys, for example, where the most commonly expressed ideas surface to the top, it is the ideas with the most stars that help decision makers uncover what is important to the group. Formerly known as Thoughtstream, the platform was rebranded as Thoughtexchange in 2014. It was founded in 2009 and is being developed by Fulcrum Management Solutions Ltd., a company based in Rossland, British Columbia. It also has offices in the U.S., in Washington and Oregon.