Feature
Anonymous ideas and private voting
Yes, AppSprint is a design sprint tool with anonymous ideas and voting. Each person writes notes that only they can see until the host shows them, in shuffled order and without names, including on the host's screen. Ballots are private and counts appear only after the reveal. The team vote is advisory: a named decision-maker then confirms the choice. Chat and the team roster do show names.
Why it matters
When people can see whose idea is whose, the group tends to follow the most senior or most confident voice. Design sprints handle this by having people work alone first and vote before discussing. Online, that only works if the tool hides authorship and keeps votes private. See the guide to anonymous dot voting.
How it works in a session
Write on your own
On a note-taking step, each person sees only their own notes. A live Team panel shows who is Writing, Working, Ready or Sitting out. It never shows what anyone wrote.
The host shows the notes
When the host reveals them, the notes appear in shuffled order. No one's view carries authorship, and that includes the host's.
Vote privately
Each person places dots on a private ballot. The number of dots per person depends on the step: 1, 2, 3 or 8. Everyone votes, including the host. The Team panel shows who has voted, not what they chose.
Reveal the counts
Counts appear only after the reveal. On a tie, the host can re-vote the tied options or start a new vote with all options.
The decision-maker confirms
The team vote is advisory. The decision-maker, the person with the final say, sees the result and confirms the choice. The confirmed decision is what goes into the session summary.
What is anonymous and what is not
| Shown without names | Shown with names | |
|---|---|---|
| Ideas and input | Notes, poll entries, Refine Together suggestions | Written review notes, examples (grouped under the presenter) |
| Votes and review | Ballots, Prototype Review dots, who built each prototype during review | Nothing: vote counts carry no names |
| Conversation and presence | Nothing | Chat, the roster and status panel, live cursors |
Anonymous polls at any time
Outside the fixed steps, the host or a co-host can start an anonymous poll from Room tools. They set a question, the entries per person (1 to 20) and the votes per person (1 to 10), with optional AI images. Ranked results are posted to the room chat.
Limits worth knowing
- This is anonymity in the interface. AppSprint stores author ids on its servers and does not send them to anyone's screen. It is not cryptographic anonymity.
- AI teammates can add notes, but they never vote.
- Every dot counts once. No step uses weighted or stacked dots.
Which templates include it
Anonymous notes and private votes run through the Full Product Sprint and the Focused Product Sprint. The One-Hour Sprint uses anonymous review dots and a private gallery vote. In Team Vibe Coding, suggestions are anonymous. See also Prototype Review.