Loomio
Wed 22 Nov 2017 3:48AM

November 2017 product feature update

JK James Kiesel Public Seen by 243

Hello lovely Loomio community - it's been a loong time since we've given a proper update on the state of the product, so here's a quick spotlight on some of the cool things we've been working on recently:

Pinned threads give structure for discussion 馃搶

Good structure makes the Loomio group easy to use. Now group facilitators can pin the most relevant threads on top of the list. For example, pinning the New member introduction thread makes group easy to jump in.

Ranked choice poll gives more options to voting 馃搳

We have introduced a ranked choice poll that makes possible to give several votes and put them in the order of preference. That gives people a chance to express their opinion in polls more clearly.

Show your emotions with reactions 馃挆

Love for the latest monthly meeting minutes! Now it is possible to react the thread description with emojis. Reactions are a simple element that have potential to increase group activity.

Seen by count makes group activity visible 馃憖

Loomio has added a feature that shows how many people have seen the thread. The count tells quickly, how actively members are checking the new threads.

All this was developed based on feedback from you, the community, in mind; we're constantly aiming to make group work and decision-making easier, and so we're always very keen to hear your thoughts on current and future updates. Keep in touch! <3

AW

Aaron Wolf Wed 22 Nov 2017 4:41AM

What calculation does the system use to show the results of a ranked-choice poll?

JK

James Kiesel Wed 22 Nov 2017 6:00AM

It's verrry simplistic at the moment (3pts for 1st place vote, 2pts for 2nd place vote, 1pt for 3rd place vote, etc.), but in the near future we'll offer the ability to export the results into a spreadsheet which can then be used to perform other, more complex operations like instant runoff. Supporting lots of different types of Ranked Choice rankings (and there are a lot, heh), likely isn't something we'll support in the app in the immediate future, but we're always interested in contributions in that direction.

AW

Aaron Wolf Wed 22 Nov 2017 6:12AM

Thanks for the clarification! I think that is Borda Count.
And allowing more complex calculations to be tried is a wonderful way to go (and to avoid picking sides among debates by voting theorists).

Also, all you need to do to let it work as score voting is to allow ties (something some versions of rank-ballots accept also). I suppose fully score voting would need to switch out the numbers to show the points themselves instead of the rankings, i.e. a UI that looks more like scoring to the voter.

Add flexibility to adjust the number of rankings (i.e. more than 3) or choose the score range, and then you've got a system usable by anyone interested in using any rank or score style voting!

Cheers

JK

James Kiesel Wed 22 Nov 2017 8:03AM

I should have been more clear; we do allow you to specify the number of 'ranks' to give each person, so you could have someone rank everyone from 5 choices, or give their top 3 from 10, etc. Next up might be to allow the poll author to assign different point values to each rank (IE a first place vote is 5, second place is 3, third is 2, fourth is 1, etc)

RG

Robert Guthrie Thu 23 Nov 2017 7:58PM

Score voting is something I'd be keen to have a go at one day. We're in a good position to create it over a couple of days.