A Qualzy activity type for idea generation and evaluation. Participants submit ideas independently in a blind first round — before anyone can anchor on anyone else's thinking — then vote on the strongest ideas in a second phase, with required reasoning for every vote.
How it works
In the first phase, participants generate ideas without being able to see what anyone else has submitted. This prevents the anchoring effect that makes group brainstorms regress to the mean — capturing the full diversity of thinking, including the unconventional ideas that workshop rooms suppress.
Once the moderator has reviewed the submitted ideas, participants enter a rating phase where they can see all ideas and distribute a limited number of up and down votes. Crucially, every vote requires an explanation — so researchers get not just what participants think is best, but why. Forced prioritisation with the reasoning behind it.
Once voting closes, every idea has a net score — total positive points minus any negative votes. The ranked output is immediate: no manual sorting, no subjective moderator call. The strongest ideas rise to the top on their own merits.
Participant experience
Participants receive a brief, a stimulus, or a creative prompt — and respond with their ideas in their own time. Text is the default, but they can add video, audio, or images to bring an idea to life in ways that text alone cannot.
Because they respond asynchronously, each participant thinks independently. There's no dominant voice in the room. No one anchors on the first idea raised. The full range of consumer thinking is captured.
Participant gets a task invitation with a stimulus — a question, image, trend, or creative provocation to respond to.
They submit their ideas in text, video, or audio — without seeing what any other participant has submitted.
The moderator reviews submitted ideas before releasing them for rating. Participants then see all ideas and distribute a limited number of up and down votes — must explain the reasoning behind each vote.
You can comment on any idea submission to probe the thinking, ask for elaboration, or push the idea further.
Rating phase
Once the moderator has reviewed submissions, the rating phase opens. Every participant sees every idea — and distributes a fixed pool of points across the ones they value most. The net score ranks everything automatically.
Each participant gets a set number of points to distribute — say 10 total. They can give any single idea between +1 and +5, however they like, until their pool runs out.
Participants can also be given a small number of negative votes — typically one −1 — to flag an idea they strongly oppose. Both the negative allowance and maximum positive per idea are set by the moderator.
The net score for each idea is total positives minus total negatives. Ideas are ranked automatically — the strongest ideas rise to the top, the weakest sink. No manual sorting required.
Idea being rated
Votes coming in
Use cases
Put consumers inside the innovation process early — before ideas have been developed and invested in. Capture the full diversity of consumer thinking, including the unconventional ideas that agency teams wouldn't reach alone.
Brief participants on your brand challenge and ask them to generate campaign concepts, slogans, or messaging directions. Then use a second phase to build the strongest ideas into something more developed.
Replace the logistics and limitations of a physical co-creation workshop with an async Ideation activity — 150 participants across multiple markets, no anchoring bias, no travel budget required.
Ask customers what features they wish existed, what problems they'd solve, or what a better version of your product would look like. The ranked net score output gives you a clear, defensible prioritisation to act on.
Get started
Book a discovery call and we'll walk through the Ideation activity type — from blind first-round setup through the voting phase and ranked net score output.
Combine Ideation with these to build richer study designs
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Personal Canvas
Visual ideation — mood boards, image selection, and matrix placement — that unlock creative thinking beyond what direct questions reach.
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Card Sort
Participants organise and prioritise ideas or concepts — ideal for evaluating and ranking the output of an ideation round.
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Card Score
Rate ideas on a scale — quantitative prioritisation alongside open qualitative feedback on the strongest concepts.