Distributing points¶
Participants distribute a personal point budget across the available options. This captures not just preferences but also their intensity. You can put your full budget on a single option or spread it broadly.
How it works in Rhizome¶
Each participant distributes their points according to their own priorities. Rhizome sums the points across all participants and ranks the options accordingly. The result reflects both broad support and strong individual preferences.
Extended decision rules¶
Point budget per person¶
Each participant distributes a personal point budget across the options. The default is 10 points. You can increase or decrease this — for example, a lower budget increases pressure to prioritize, while a higher budget allows for more nuanced distribution when there are many options.
Point limit per option¶
Limits how many points a single participant can place on one option. This is particularly useful when participants proposed their own options during the deliberation phase: without a limit, each person might simply place their entire budget on their own proposal, which would reveal nothing about second or third preferences. A per-option limit encourages distributing points more broadly.
Distribution across options¶
Limits how many different options a participant can place points on (default: unlimited). For example, with five options and a limit of three, participants must prioritize and concentrate their points — which can be useful to force sharper prioritization when the number of options is large.
Required majority¶
Defines how many points an option needs to win.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Relative majority (default) | The option with the most points wins |
| Absolute majority | An option must receive more than 50% of all points to win |
| Two-thirds majority | An option must receive at least 66% of all points to win |
| Custom | Define your own percentage threshold |
Quorum¶
Sets the minimum number of participants who must respond for the decision to be valid.
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| No quorum (default) | The decision is valid regardless of how many participants respond |
| Percentage | A defined share must respond — preset options are 50%, 66%, or a custom value |
| Number | A specific number of participants must respond |
| All must participate | Every member in the group must respond |
For a complete reference of all available rules, see Special rules.
Use cases¶
Use distributing points for prioritization, budget allocation, or selecting from a large number of options. It combines well with ranking when you need both weighted and ordered results. Distributing points also works as a preliminary gauge before a consent decision. For more on combining modes, see combining decision modes.