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  1. UX Strategy Kit
  2. Methods
  3. Dot Coding
beginnerstrategize
Dot CodingDefine and organize expectations and opinions on a projects facets within a team or even between multiple teams.
20 – 60 min2 – 20 Participantsreviewteamplanning
+5
Open in FigJam
Summary

The Dot Coding method is used to get an understanding of how your team evaluates different aspects of your project in its current state and encourage a truthful discussion on the resulting insights. For this, you set up an overview of the topics in question and let the team place differently colored dots to express their opinions and feelings about them. Afterwards, you discuss the outcome and try to find a solution for the detected problems. 

Step-by-step
  1. Set up the collection of items, that need to be evaluated by labelling post-its and placing them on the board. These could be everything from product features, previous insights and concerns to other simple as statements from team members. Ideally, you already have set up a whiteboard to organise ideas for your current project, in which case you can simply use this one. Also, try to cluster or group related items to keep a better overview and determine problematic parts of your project more easily. 

  2. Define the meaning of your differently colored dots. They can represent any opinion or attitude towards the different items (e.g. "Agree", "Disagree", "Surprising", "Concerning", etc.). Try to think about a maximum of 4 opposing colors and meanings to limit complexity and write them down in a legend so nobody gets confused about them. 

  3. Before you let your team place their dots make sure that each of the team members understands all of the chosen items and what they are about. It may be helpful to go through them with your team and present them one after another before continuing to the next step. 

  4. Start quietly positioning your dots. Tell the team that it is crucial that they are placing them truthfully according to their own opinion. It is important to not talk during this step to prevent the participants from directly influencing each other.

  5. Now step back and discuss the results. Which items are labelled the most? Where is the biggest consensus? Where do opinions collide and why? But also talk about the outliers that are marked only by a few people. 

What you need
  • Post-it's
  • Pens
  • Dot Coding template
  • White-, black- or pinboard
Do you have a question?
These methods might seem simple, but applying them in a real project is another story. We’re there to help. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch with us at the User Experience Strategy & Design team.
Ask Away!
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