What's in this template
One ranking question with five example backlog items. Replace them with your candidates — the ranked format is what makes the output usable.
Why ranking beats a show of hands
Seniority stops deciding priority
In a live discussion the most senior or most confident voice sets the order. Ranked voting gives every engineer the same weight, and it's anonymous by default.
Second choices carry real information
Knowing what the team would accept second is often more useful than knowing their favourite, particularly when the top item turns out to be blocked.
Similar items stop splitting the vote
Two related tickets will split support between them in a single-choice vote, letting a less-wanted item win. Instant-runoff consolidates them.
The result is defensible
You can show stakeholders the elimination rounds. 'The team ranked it' carries more weight than 'we discussed it and decided'.
Run it in three steps
Load your candidates
Five to eight items works well. Beyond that, ranking becomes a chore and people rank carelessly.
Share before the ceremony
Send the link an hour before planning. People rank at their desk, not under time pressure in the room.
Open with the result
Start the meeting with the ranking on screen. Discussion then focuses on the contested middle rather than relitigating everything.
The data behind ranked choice
We simulated 660,000 group votes to measure how often single-choice voting picks a different winner. With five options the plurality winner held no outright majority 84.3% of the time, and the two methods disagreed in 28.7% of votes. The gap widens as options increase.
Read the full study → · methodology and code published.