How can a group of programmers sort their opinions and come to consensus on the best answer?





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Our organisation is faced with a difficult problem to solve, where there is no "right" answer. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.



I have given a group of programmers a questionnaire and collected their detailed opinions on many different issues related to this problem. They all have very, very different opinions of the possible repercussions of each solution.



Next week we will all meet to put our brains together to settle on one way forward. I will be leading the meeting.



Can anyone suggest a process by which I can put everyone's opinions on the table, and have everyone sort through them and comment/rank/sort answers to help the group come to consensus?










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migrated from ux.stackexchange.com Nov 30 at 10:37


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  • 9




    Whatever the outcome, I hope you learn that design-by-committee is never, ever the right option.
    – Confused
    Nov 28 at 18:34










  • I do believe the last 20 years of Agile development has been spent mostly trying to find a process to help groups come to the best consensus. Many solutions have been proposed. Ironically, there's no right solution to this problem. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.
    – Cort Ammon
    Nov 29 at 0:00










  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it has to do with team management and problem solving which doesn't tie into user experience
    – Shreyas Tripathy
    Nov 29 at 9:32










  • Does you company have a very clear picture of the problem and a clear and followed strategy? This is going to be an exercise in finding out which values are most important and you'll need to align people on those first.
    – Erik
    Nov 30 at 10:46






  • 9




    Why do you need consensus? Isn't there someone in charge? Difficult decisions are management's job - that's why they're paid the big bucks...
    – AakashM
    Nov 30 at 11:51

















up vote
2
down vote

favorite












Our organisation is faced with a difficult problem to solve, where there is no "right" answer. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.



I have given a group of programmers a questionnaire and collected their detailed opinions on many different issues related to this problem. They all have very, very different opinions of the possible repercussions of each solution.



Next week we will all meet to put our brains together to settle on one way forward. I will be leading the meeting.



Can anyone suggest a process by which I can put everyone's opinions on the table, and have everyone sort through them and comment/rank/sort answers to help the group come to consensus?










share|improve this question













migrated from ux.stackexchange.com Nov 30 at 10:37


This question came from our site for user experience researchers and experts.











  • 9




    Whatever the outcome, I hope you learn that design-by-committee is never, ever the right option.
    – Confused
    Nov 28 at 18:34










  • I do believe the last 20 years of Agile development has been spent mostly trying to find a process to help groups come to the best consensus. Many solutions have been proposed. Ironically, there's no right solution to this problem. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.
    – Cort Ammon
    Nov 29 at 0:00










  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it has to do with team management and problem solving which doesn't tie into user experience
    – Shreyas Tripathy
    Nov 29 at 9:32










  • Does you company have a very clear picture of the problem and a clear and followed strategy? This is going to be an exercise in finding out which values are most important and you'll need to align people on those first.
    – Erik
    Nov 30 at 10:46






  • 9




    Why do you need consensus? Isn't there someone in charge? Difficult decisions are management's job - that's why they're paid the big bucks...
    – AakashM
    Nov 30 at 11:51













up vote
2
down vote

favorite









up vote
2
down vote

favorite











Our organisation is faced with a difficult problem to solve, where there is no "right" answer. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.



I have given a group of programmers a questionnaire and collected their detailed opinions on many different issues related to this problem. They all have very, very different opinions of the possible repercussions of each solution.



Next week we will all meet to put our brains together to settle on one way forward. I will be leading the meeting.



Can anyone suggest a process by which I can put everyone's opinions on the table, and have everyone sort through them and comment/rank/sort answers to help the group come to consensus?










share|improve this question













Our organisation is faced with a difficult problem to solve, where there is no "right" answer. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.



I have given a group of programmers a questionnaire and collected their detailed opinions on many different issues related to this problem. They all have very, very different opinions of the possible repercussions of each solution.



Next week we will all meet to put our brains together to settle on one way forward. I will be leading the meeting.



Can anyone suggest a process by which I can put everyone's opinions on the table, and have everyone sort through them and comment/rank/sort answers to help the group come to consensus?







planning






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asked Nov 28 at 14:54







Artificial Name











migrated from ux.stackexchange.com Nov 30 at 10:37


This question came from our site for user experience researchers and experts.






migrated from ux.stackexchange.com Nov 30 at 10:37


This question came from our site for user experience researchers and experts.










  • 9




    Whatever the outcome, I hope you learn that design-by-committee is never, ever the right option.
    – Confused
    Nov 28 at 18:34










  • I do believe the last 20 years of Agile development has been spent mostly trying to find a process to help groups come to the best consensus. Many solutions have been proposed. Ironically, there's no right solution to this problem. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.
    – Cort Ammon
    Nov 29 at 0:00










  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it has to do with team management and problem solving which doesn't tie into user experience
    – Shreyas Tripathy
    Nov 29 at 9:32










  • Does you company have a very clear picture of the problem and a clear and followed strategy? This is going to be an exercise in finding out which values are most important and you'll need to align people on those first.
    – Erik
    Nov 30 at 10:46






  • 9




    Why do you need consensus? Isn't there someone in charge? Difficult decisions are management's job - that's why they're paid the big bucks...
    – AakashM
    Nov 30 at 11:51














  • 9




    Whatever the outcome, I hope you learn that design-by-committee is never, ever the right option.
    – Confused
    Nov 28 at 18:34










  • I do believe the last 20 years of Agile development has been spent mostly trying to find a process to help groups come to the best consensus. Many solutions have been proposed. Ironically, there's no right solution to this problem. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.
    – Cort Ammon
    Nov 29 at 0:00










  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it has to do with team management and problem solving which doesn't tie into user experience
    – Shreyas Tripathy
    Nov 29 at 9:32










  • Does you company have a very clear picture of the problem and a clear and followed strategy? This is going to be an exercise in finding out which values are most important and you'll need to align people on those first.
    – Erik
    Nov 30 at 10:46






  • 9




    Why do you need consensus? Isn't there someone in charge? Difficult decisions are management's job - that's why they're paid the big bucks...
    – AakashM
    Nov 30 at 11:51








9




9




Whatever the outcome, I hope you learn that design-by-committee is never, ever the right option.
– Confused
Nov 28 at 18:34




Whatever the outcome, I hope you learn that design-by-committee is never, ever the right option.
– Confused
Nov 28 at 18:34












I do believe the last 20 years of Agile development has been spent mostly trying to find a process to help groups come to the best consensus. Many solutions have been proposed. Ironically, there's no right solution to this problem. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.
– Cort Ammon
Nov 29 at 0:00




I do believe the last 20 years of Agile development has been spent mostly trying to find a process to help groups come to the best consensus. Many solutions have been proposed. Ironically, there's no right solution to this problem. Each solution has many advantages and disadvantages.
– Cort Ammon
Nov 29 at 0:00












I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it has to do with team management and problem solving which doesn't tie into user experience
– Shreyas Tripathy
Nov 29 at 9:32




I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it has to do with team management and problem solving which doesn't tie into user experience
– Shreyas Tripathy
Nov 29 at 9:32












Does you company have a very clear picture of the problem and a clear and followed strategy? This is going to be an exercise in finding out which values are most important and you'll need to align people on those first.
– Erik
Nov 30 at 10:46




Does you company have a very clear picture of the problem and a clear and followed strategy? This is going to be an exercise in finding out which values are most important and you'll need to align people on those first.
– Erik
Nov 30 at 10:46




9




9




Why do you need consensus? Isn't there someone in charge? Difficult decisions are management's job - that's why they're paid the big bucks...
– AakashM
Nov 30 at 11:51




Why do you need consensus? Isn't there someone in charge? Difficult decisions are management's job - that's why they're paid the big bucks...
– AakashM
Nov 30 at 11:51










6 Answers
6






active

oldest

votes

















up vote
7
down vote













Power == solution. You are the team leader, right? Whatever you feel comfortable is the best approach, no matter how absurd it sound. For instance, if you believe C is the best language for writing a web page at the client side then that’s it. It’s your responsibility for making a development decision, not your developers. They just do the coding under your lead.



Go ahead with the meeting, listen to everybody what they want to say. Once everybody is finished, you present your own ideas and that will be the final decision.






share|improve this answer



















  • 6




    I have a problem with this answer. It is much easier to accept and implement a management decision if it is reasonable, as well as having been reached after considering the relevant opinions.
    – Patricia Shanahan
    yesterday












  • Yeah, but OP may like to keep his better people around and productive rather than having demoralized while they look for a job where they're respected. You don't seem to understand how programmers in general work, particularly good ones.
    – David Thornley
    7 hours ago


















up vote
5
down vote













Leadership is about making decisions. If I were in your shoes, I would consider all perspectives and take some time to reflect on a solution. Then pick a plan or develop my own and then inform the team what we're moving forward with.



I'm a big believer in just making sure everyone is working in the same direction. So the plan, the plan is what it is. You try to mitigate risk by considering all perspectives, but at the end of the day, you need to choose.



You thank everyone for their contribution, and then you pick a plan and organize the task ahead of you as a cohesive group.






share|improve this answer








New contributor




ShinEmperor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

























    up vote
    2
    down vote













    You could use a matrix where each axis is a meaningful criteria.



    For example, vertical axis is "Customer Value" and horizontal axis is "Level of Effort". As a team, place a sticky note for each option on the axis to measure each option based on criteria. In this case, you may be able to narrow down to options with significant customer value with a reasonable level of effort. Or perhaps instead of "Level of Effort" it's "Potential Negative Impact" or something.



    I agree with the other poster who mentioned organizational objectives. I would weigh each option based on organizational criteria.



    Could you invite a decision maker, a leader who can help guide the conversation and lead the team to a decision?



    Overall, you need to identify your objective and criteria. Are you trying to gain user adoption? Trying to increase sign-ups? Etc. Whatever the objective and criteria may be should be a major part of the process to select which path to pursue.






    share|improve this answer




























      up vote
      1
      down vote













      So two parts to this




      1. Each possibility is presented by the proposer(s) with both advantages and disadvantages. No proposal without both.

      2. Fist of five voting. When you vote on each proposal use the following:
        Fist of five vote


      All the team raise a hand to vote:



      0 fingers - against



      1 - defer (until after other items)



      2-5 agree at varying levels



      Simply count all the fingers and choose the one with the highest support, simple.






      share|improve this answer




























        up vote
        0
        down vote













        EDIT 12-1-18:



        This is a question about programmer's ideation in the UX design process. Why was it removed from the UX section?



        This is a question about programming design during the ideation phase of UX iteration. Some example articles on the subject:



        NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



        NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



        Programmers face issues unique to programming in ideation. The question is about those issues.





        To get the best ideas out of people, remove all negative consequences of proposing those ideas. Remove all the possible negative personal, social, and professional consequences.



        Make the ideation process anonymous and only have positive reviews and ratings.



        When trying to find the best idea or solution out of a set, there is literally no reason to critique. The only thing that matters is which is the best solution, not how bad the other solutions are. Since it's comparison, anything negative about A can simply be stated as a positive about B. Simply use positive points or a scale.



        Have team members submit their ideas to you. You present the ideas to the team without their creator's name attached. This prevents social anxiety about failing for the creator and prevents personal feelings from affecting reviews.



        Team members review or rate ideas in positive ways only. This way people get to hear compliments and what works with their ideas without being critiqued. The team is forced to focus on what works when reviewing ideas. The winning solution's owner can be named or you can even leave that anonymous too in the name of the team.






        share|improve this answer






























          up vote
          -1
          down vote













          You could run a version of planning poker (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_poker) where, instead of estimating effort, you could estimate the value of building certain features.



          Although, I have to ask: Why is this a tech decision? Hasn't the business side given you priorities?



          I would think that business need would trump any tech estimates of value or effort.






          share|improve this answer





















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            6 Answers
            6






            active

            oldest

            votes








            6 Answers
            6






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes








            up vote
            7
            down vote













            Power == solution. You are the team leader, right? Whatever you feel comfortable is the best approach, no matter how absurd it sound. For instance, if you believe C is the best language for writing a web page at the client side then that’s it. It’s your responsibility for making a development decision, not your developers. They just do the coding under your lead.



            Go ahead with the meeting, listen to everybody what they want to say. Once everybody is finished, you present your own ideas and that will be the final decision.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 6




              I have a problem with this answer. It is much easier to accept and implement a management decision if it is reasonable, as well as having been reached after considering the relevant opinions.
              – Patricia Shanahan
              yesterday












            • Yeah, but OP may like to keep his better people around and productive rather than having demoralized while they look for a job where they're respected. You don't seem to understand how programmers in general work, particularly good ones.
              – David Thornley
              7 hours ago















            up vote
            7
            down vote













            Power == solution. You are the team leader, right? Whatever you feel comfortable is the best approach, no matter how absurd it sound. For instance, if you believe C is the best language for writing a web page at the client side then that’s it. It’s your responsibility for making a development decision, not your developers. They just do the coding under your lead.



            Go ahead with the meeting, listen to everybody what they want to say. Once everybody is finished, you present your own ideas and that will be the final decision.






            share|improve this answer



















            • 6




              I have a problem with this answer. It is much easier to accept and implement a management decision if it is reasonable, as well as having been reached after considering the relevant opinions.
              – Patricia Shanahan
              yesterday












            • Yeah, but OP may like to keep his better people around and productive rather than having demoralized while they look for a job where they're respected. You don't seem to understand how programmers in general work, particularly good ones.
              – David Thornley
              7 hours ago













            up vote
            7
            down vote










            up vote
            7
            down vote









            Power == solution. You are the team leader, right? Whatever you feel comfortable is the best approach, no matter how absurd it sound. For instance, if you believe C is the best language for writing a web page at the client side then that’s it. It’s your responsibility for making a development decision, not your developers. They just do the coding under your lead.



            Go ahead with the meeting, listen to everybody what they want to say. Once everybody is finished, you present your own ideas and that will be the final decision.






            share|improve this answer














            Power == solution. You are the team leader, right? Whatever you feel comfortable is the best approach, no matter how absurd it sound. For instance, if you believe C is the best language for writing a web page at the client side then that’s it. It’s your responsibility for making a development decision, not your developers. They just do the coding under your lead.



            Go ahead with the meeting, listen to everybody what they want to say. Once everybody is finished, you present your own ideas and that will be the final decision.







            share|improve this answer














            share|improve this answer



            share|improve this answer








            edited Nov 30 at 13:02

























            answered Nov 30 at 12:52









            SmallChess

            1,1263621




            1,1263621








            • 6




              I have a problem with this answer. It is much easier to accept and implement a management decision if it is reasonable, as well as having been reached after considering the relevant opinions.
              – Patricia Shanahan
              yesterday












            • Yeah, but OP may like to keep his better people around and productive rather than having demoralized while they look for a job where they're respected. You don't seem to understand how programmers in general work, particularly good ones.
              – David Thornley
              7 hours ago














            • 6




              I have a problem with this answer. It is much easier to accept and implement a management decision if it is reasonable, as well as having been reached after considering the relevant opinions.
              – Patricia Shanahan
              yesterday












            • Yeah, but OP may like to keep his better people around and productive rather than having demoralized while they look for a job where they're respected. You don't seem to understand how programmers in general work, particularly good ones.
              – David Thornley
              7 hours ago








            6




            6




            I have a problem with this answer. It is much easier to accept and implement a management decision if it is reasonable, as well as having been reached after considering the relevant opinions.
            – Patricia Shanahan
            yesterday






            I have a problem with this answer. It is much easier to accept and implement a management decision if it is reasonable, as well as having been reached after considering the relevant opinions.
            – Patricia Shanahan
            yesterday














            Yeah, but OP may like to keep his better people around and productive rather than having demoralized while they look for a job where they're respected. You don't seem to understand how programmers in general work, particularly good ones.
            – David Thornley
            7 hours ago




            Yeah, but OP may like to keep his better people around and productive rather than having demoralized while they look for a job where they're respected. You don't seem to understand how programmers in general work, particularly good ones.
            – David Thornley
            7 hours ago












            up vote
            5
            down vote













            Leadership is about making decisions. If I were in your shoes, I would consider all perspectives and take some time to reflect on a solution. Then pick a plan or develop my own and then inform the team what we're moving forward with.



            I'm a big believer in just making sure everyone is working in the same direction. So the plan, the plan is what it is. You try to mitigate risk by considering all perspectives, but at the end of the day, you need to choose.



            You thank everyone for their contribution, and then you pick a plan and organize the task ahead of you as a cohesive group.






            share|improve this answer








            New contributor




            ShinEmperor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
            Check out our Code of Conduct.






















              up vote
              5
              down vote













              Leadership is about making decisions. If I were in your shoes, I would consider all perspectives and take some time to reflect on a solution. Then pick a plan or develop my own and then inform the team what we're moving forward with.



              I'm a big believer in just making sure everyone is working in the same direction. So the plan, the plan is what it is. You try to mitigate risk by considering all perspectives, but at the end of the day, you need to choose.



              You thank everyone for their contribution, and then you pick a plan and organize the task ahead of you as a cohesive group.






              share|improve this answer








              New contributor




              ShinEmperor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
              Check out our Code of Conduct.




















                up vote
                5
                down vote










                up vote
                5
                down vote









                Leadership is about making decisions. If I were in your shoes, I would consider all perspectives and take some time to reflect on a solution. Then pick a plan or develop my own and then inform the team what we're moving forward with.



                I'm a big believer in just making sure everyone is working in the same direction. So the plan, the plan is what it is. You try to mitigate risk by considering all perspectives, but at the end of the day, you need to choose.



                You thank everyone for their contribution, and then you pick a plan and organize the task ahead of you as a cohesive group.






                share|improve this answer








                New contributor




                ShinEmperor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                Leadership is about making decisions. If I were in your shoes, I would consider all perspectives and take some time to reflect on a solution. Then pick a plan or develop my own and then inform the team what we're moving forward with.



                I'm a big believer in just making sure everyone is working in the same direction. So the plan, the plan is what it is. You try to mitigate risk by considering all perspectives, but at the end of the day, you need to choose.



                You thank everyone for their contribution, and then you pick a plan and organize the task ahead of you as a cohesive group.







                share|improve this answer








                New contributor




                ShinEmperor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer






                New contributor




                ShinEmperor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                answered Nov 30 at 13:03









                ShinEmperor

                92916




                92916




                New contributor




                ShinEmperor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.





                New contributor





                ShinEmperor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.






                ShinEmperor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                Check out our Code of Conduct.






















                    up vote
                    2
                    down vote













                    You could use a matrix where each axis is a meaningful criteria.



                    For example, vertical axis is "Customer Value" and horizontal axis is "Level of Effort". As a team, place a sticky note for each option on the axis to measure each option based on criteria. In this case, you may be able to narrow down to options with significant customer value with a reasonable level of effort. Or perhaps instead of "Level of Effort" it's "Potential Negative Impact" or something.



                    I agree with the other poster who mentioned organizational objectives. I would weigh each option based on organizational criteria.



                    Could you invite a decision maker, a leader who can help guide the conversation and lead the team to a decision?



                    Overall, you need to identify your objective and criteria. Are you trying to gain user adoption? Trying to increase sign-ups? Etc. Whatever the objective and criteria may be should be a major part of the process to select which path to pursue.






                    share|improve this answer

























                      up vote
                      2
                      down vote













                      You could use a matrix where each axis is a meaningful criteria.



                      For example, vertical axis is "Customer Value" and horizontal axis is "Level of Effort". As a team, place a sticky note for each option on the axis to measure each option based on criteria. In this case, you may be able to narrow down to options with significant customer value with a reasonable level of effort. Or perhaps instead of "Level of Effort" it's "Potential Negative Impact" or something.



                      I agree with the other poster who mentioned organizational objectives. I would weigh each option based on organizational criteria.



                      Could you invite a decision maker, a leader who can help guide the conversation and lead the team to a decision?



                      Overall, you need to identify your objective and criteria. Are you trying to gain user adoption? Trying to increase sign-ups? Etc. Whatever the objective and criteria may be should be a major part of the process to select which path to pursue.






                      share|improve this answer























                        up vote
                        2
                        down vote










                        up vote
                        2
                        down vote









                        You could use a matrix where each axis is a meaningful criteria.



                        For example, vertical axis is "Customer Value" and horizontal axis is "Level of Effort". As a team, place a sticky note for each option on the axis to measure each option based on criteria. In this case, you may be able to narrow down to options with significant customer value with a reasonable level of effort. Or perhaps instead of "Level of Effort" it's "Potential Negative Impact" or something.



                        I agree with the other poster who mentioned organizational objectives. I would weigh each option based on organizational criteria.



                        Could you invite a decision maker, a leader who can help guide the conversation and lead the team to a decision?



                        Overall, you need to identify your objective and criteria. Are you trying to gain user adoption? Trying to increase sign-ups? Etc. Whatever the objective and criteria may be should be a major part of the process to select which path to pursue.






                        share|improve this answer












                        You could use a matrix where each axis is a meaningful criteria.



                        For example, vertical axis is "Customer Value" and horizontal axis is "Level of Effort". As a team, place a sticky note for each option on the axis to measure each option based on criteria. In this case, you may be able to narrow down to options with significant customer value with a reasonable level of effort. Or perhaps instead of "Level of Effort" it's "Potential Negative Impact" or something.



                        I agree with the other poster who mentioned organizational objectives. I would weigh each option based on organizational criteria.



                        Could you invite a decision maker, a leader who can help guide the conversation and lead the team to a decision?



                        Overall, you need to identify your objective and criteria. Are you trying to gain user adoption? Trying to increase sign-ups? Etc. Whatever the objective and criteria may be should be a major part of the process to select which path to pursue.







                        share|improve this answer












                        share|improve this answer



                        share|improve this answer










                        answered Nov 28 at 17:19







                        RPJ





























                            up vote
                            1
                            down vote













                            So two parts to this




                            1. Each possibility is presented by the proposer(s) with both advantages and disadvantages. No proposal without both.

                            2. Fist of five voting. When you vote on each proposal use the following:
                              Fist of five vote


                            All the team raise a hand to vote:



                            0 fingers - against



                            1 - defer (until after other items)



                            2-5 agree at varying levels



                            Simply count all the fingers and choose the one with the highest support, simple.






                            share|improve this answer

























                              up vote
                              1
                              down vote













                              So two parts to this




                              1. Each possibility is presented by the proposer(s) with both advantages and disadvantages. No proposal without both.

                              2. Fist of five voting. When you vote on each proposal use the following:
                                Fist of five vote


                              All the team raise a hand to vote:



                              0 fingers - against



                              1 - defer (until after other items)



                              2-5 agree at varying levels



                              Simply count all the fingers and choose the one with the highest support, simple.






                              share|improve this answer























                                up vote
                                1
                                down vote










                                up vote
                                1
                                down vote









                                So two parts to this




                                1. Each possibility is presented by the proposer(s) with both advantages and disadvantages. No proposal without both.

                                2. Fist of five voting. When you vote on each proposal use the following:
                                  Fist of five vote


                                All the team raise a hand to vote:



                                0 fingers - against



                                1 - defer (until after other items)



                                2-5 agree at varying levels



                                Simply count all the fingers and choose the one with the highest support, simple.






                                share|improve this answer












                                So two parts to this




                                1. Each possibility is presented by the proposer(s) with both advantages and disadvantages. No proposal without both.

                                2. Fist of five voting. When you vote on each proposal use the following:
                                  Fist of five vote


                                All the team raise a hand to vote:



                                0 fingers - against



                                1 - defer (until after other items)



                                2-5 agree at varying levels



                                Simply count all the fingers and choose the one with the highest support, simple.







                                share|improve this answer












                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer










                                answered yesterday









                                The Wandering Dev Manager

                                30.5k1058110




                                30.5k1058110






















                                    up vote
                                    0
                                    down vote













                                    EDIT 12-1-18:



                                    This is a question about programmer's ideation in the UX design process. Why was it removed from the UX section?



                                    This is a question about programming design during the ideation phase of UX iteration. Some example articles on the subject:



                                    NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



                                    NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



                                    Programmers face issues unique to programming in ideation. The question is about those issues.





                                    To get the best ideas out of people, remove all negative consequences of proposing those ideas. Remove all the possible negative personal, social, and professional consequences.



                                    Make the ideation process anonymous and only have positive reviews and ratings.



                                    When trying to find the best idea or solution out of a set, there is literally no reason to critique. The only thing that matters is which is the best solution, not how bad the other solutions are. Since it's comparison, anything negative about A can simply be stated as a positive about B. Simply use positive points or a scale.



                                    Have team members submit their ideas to you. You present the ideas to the team without their creator's name attached. This prevents social anxiety about failing for the creator and prevents personal feelings from affecting reviews.



                                    Team members review or rate ideas in positive ways only. This way people get to hear compliments and what works with their ideas without being critiqued. The team is forced to focus on what works when reviewing ideas. The winning solution's owner can be named or you can even leave that anonymous too in the name of the team.






                                    share|improve this answer



























                                      up vote
                                      0
                                      down vote













                                      EDIT 12-1-18:



                                      This is a question about programmer's ideation in the UX design process. Why was it removed from the UX section?



                                      This is a question about programming design during the ideation phase of UX iteration. Some example articles on the subject:



                                      NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



                                      NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



                                      Programmers face issues unique to programming in ideation. The question is about those issues.





                                      To get the best ideas out of people, remove all negative consequences of proposing those ideas. Remove all the possible negative personal, social, and professional consequences.



                                      Make the ideation process anonymous and only have positive reviews and ratings.



                                      When trying to find the best idea or solution out of a set, there is literally no reason to critique. The only thing that matters is which is the best solution, not how bad the other solutions are. Since it's comparison, anything negative about A can simply be stated as a positive about B. Simply use positive points or a scale.



                                      Have team members submit their ideas to you. You present the ideas to the team without their creator's name attached. This prevents social anxiety about failing for the creator and prevents personal feelings from affecting reviews.



                                      Team members review or rate ideas in positive ways only. This way people get to hear compliments and what works with their ideas without being critiqued. The team is forced to focus on what works when reviewing ideas. The winning solution's owner can be named or you can even leave that anonymous too in the name of the team.






                                      share|improve this answer

























                                        up vote
                                        0
                                        down vote










                                        up vote
                                        0
                                        down vote









                                        EDIT 12-1-18:



                                        This is a question about programmer's ideation in the UX design process. Why was it removed from the UX section?



                                        This is a question about programming design during the ideation phase of UX iteration. Some example articles on the subject:



                                        NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



                                        NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



                                        Programmers face issues unique to programming in ideation. The question is about those issues.





                                        To get the best ideas out of people, remove all negative consequences of proposing those ideas. Remove all the possible negative personal, social, and professional consequences.



                                        Make the ideation process anonymous and only have positive reviews and ratings.



                                        When trying to find the best idea or solution out of a set, there is literally no reason to critique. The only thing that matters is which is the best solution, not how bad the other solutions are. Since it's comparison, anything negative about A can simply be stated as a positive about B. Simply use positive points or a scale.



                                        Have team members submit their ideas to you. You present the ideas to the team without their creator's name attached. This prevents social anxiety about failing for the creator and prevents personal feelings from affecting reviews.



                                        Team members review or rate ideas in positive ways only. This way people get to hear compliments and what works with their ideas without being critiqued. The team is forced to focus on what works when reviewing ideas. The winning solution's owner can be named or you can even leave that anonymous too in the name of the team.






                                        share|improve this answer














                                        EDIT 12-1-18:



                                        This is a question about programmer's ideation in the UX design process. Why was it removed from the UX section?



                                        This is a question about programming design during the ideation phase of UX iteration. Some example articles on the subject:



                                        NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



                                        NNGroup: Ideation in Practice: How Effective UX Teams Generate Ideas



                                        Programmers face issues unique to programming in ideation. The question is about those issues.





                                        To get the best ideas out of people, remove all negative consequences of proposing those ideas. Remove all the possible negative personal, social, and professional consequences.



                                        Make the ideation process anonymous and only have positive reviews and ratings.



                                        When trying to find the best idea or solution out of a set, there is literally no reason to critique. The only thing that matters is which is the best solution, not how bad the other solutions are. Since it's comparison, anything negative about A can simply be stated as a positive about B. Simply use positive points or a scale.



                                        Have team members submit their ideas to you. You present the ideas to the team without their creator's name attached. This prevents social anxiety about failing for the creator and prevents personal feelings from affecting reviews.



                                        Team members review or rate ideas in positive ways only. This way people get to hear compliments and what works with their ideas without being critiqued. The team is forced to focus on what works when reviewing ideas. The winning solution's owner can be named or you can even leave that anonymous too in the name of the team.







                                        share|improve this answer














                                        share|improve this answer



                                        share|improve this answer








                                        edited 2 days ago

























                                        answered Nov 28 at 19:16









                                        moot

                                        1112




                                        1112






















                                            up vote
                                            -1
                                            down vote













                                            You could run a version of planning poker (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_poker) where, instead of estimating effort, you could estimate the value of building certain features.



                                            Although, I have to ask: Why is this a tech decision? Hasn't the business side given you priorities?



                                            I would think that business need would trump any tech estimates of value or effort.






                                            share|improve this answer

























                                              up vote
                                              -1
                                              down vote













                                              You could run a version of planning poker (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_poker) where, instead of estimating effort, you could estimate the value of building certain features.



                                              Although, I have to ask: Why is this a tech decision? Hasn't the business side given you priorities?



                                              I would think that business need would trump any tech estimates of value or effort.






                                              share|improve this answer























                                                up vote
                                                -1
                                                down vote










                                                up vote
                                                -1
                                                down vote









                                                You could run a version of planning poker (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_poker) where, instead of estimating effort, you could estimate the value of building certain features.



                                                Although, I have to ask: Why is this a tech decision? Hasn't the business side given you priorities?



                                                I would think that business need would trump any tech estimates of value or effort.






                                                share|improve this answer












                                                You could run a version of planning poker (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_poker) where, instead of estimating effort, you could estimate the value of building certain features.



                                                Although, I have to ask: Why is this a tech decision? Hasn't the business side given you priorities?



                                                I would think that business need would trump any tech estimates of value or effort.







                                                share|improve this answer












                                                share|improve this answer



                                                share|improve this answer










                                                answered Nov 28 at 15:26







                                                RobC





































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