1. Set up
Got a room code from your host — one short word, like maple? Type it below and press Join, and this tool connects to your breakout group so everyone sees the same map. If you opened a join link, the code is already filled in for you. No code? Skip Join: one browser can hold your whole breakout group, and you switch reader IDs here to work each queue.
2. My items
Read each item below. For each one, write a single line: what is going on, in your words. One line is enough — don't polish it. Then, tag each item with a theme or leave it unclustered. An item that doesn't fit anywhere stays unclustered; deciding what to leave out is part of the method.
When an item says several things at once: pick the piece that feels most important, and let the line and the tag capture it. That pick is a judgment call, and making it is part of the method. At your desk, with time, one comment can carry more than one theme. In this workshop, one item gets one home, and the second pass is where you can make changes to refine your theme.
3. Your breakout group's map
Every theme anyone creates appears here with the number of items tagged with that theme. Under that, it shows each item's ID and the one-liner created by the person who read it.
This list is your breakout group's shared map. Your group will consider the whole map in the next step and decide what to merge, split, or move as you refine this map together.
4. Second pass
Read the map above together. One person leads reading aloud. Consider the item lines, not just the theme names, and ask two questions:
- Are any two of these themes the same thing?
- Should any one of them split to show difference?
You have three tools below, each performs one type of action.
Merge folds one theme into another: its items move over, and the old name leaves the map. To combine three or more themes, merge again; after each merge you land back on the merge menus. Move on when you have finished, or return as needed.
Rename changes a theme's name everywhere it appears.
Split lays out the items of a theme you select here, so your breakout group can make a call on each one — stay, or move to a new theme.
Every change updates the whole map for everyone, and a list confirming each change appears in the area you made the changes.
5. Export
Two blocks: First, theme names with the number of items tagged with each theme. Beneath that, the full map — every theme with the one-liners clustered under it.
You can edit your map directly here. Last step, copy to clipboard! Someone from your group will paste your map onto a shared surface in the main room.
All breakout groups will do this, and it sets us up for what we do next.
6. Done
This is the last step in this tool. Make sure you copied your export text to your clipboard. Then, send a note to your host to let her know you're finished.