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Decision Wheel: Make Choices in Minutes

When you’re stuck between good options (or frozen by too many options), a decision wheel can help you move forward fast. The Decision Wheel tool lets you:

  • Add options to a virtual wheel
  • (Optional) Use Smart Mode to bias outcomes using criteria weights
  • Spin and keep the winner—or remove it and spin again

Why a Decision Wheel Works

A wheel adds two benefits that are especially useful in real life:

  1. Momentum: It turns “thinking forever” into a quick, concrete choice.
  2. Fairness: When each option has pros and cons, weighting and spinning can reduce emotional bias.

Use it when you need a decision today, but you don’t want a 2-hour debate.

How to Use the Decision Wheel

1) Add options

In the Options panel:

  1. Enter an option label (e.g., “Buy A”, “Buy B”, “Take the trip”, “Stay home”).
  2. Optionally pick a color.
  3. Click Add.

Tip: Add at least 2 options before spinning.

2) (Optional) Adjust option weights

Each option has a weight value.

  • Higher weight increases how often that option is selected (more “likely”).
  • In default/random mode, weights are still respected.

If you want Smart Mode behavior instead, enable it first.

3) Turn on Smart Mode (weighted decisions)

Toggle Smart Mode to bias outcomes using criteria.

Then:

  1. Add criteria attributes (example: cost, quality, distance).
  2. Set attribute weights (importance for each criterion).
  3. For each option, set the option’s attribute scores.

Cost note: In Smart Mode, the tool treats cost in reverse (lower cost can score better). Other attributes are treated normally.

4) Spin

Click Spin (or press Space) to rotate the wheel.

When the wheel finishes:

  • The selected option appears as the Winner
  • Confetti/sound can play (depending on settings)

5) Manage the result

After spinning you can:

  • Keep Winner (finish and move on)
  • Remove Winner (delete it from the wheel and spin again)
  • Reset (clear the current result)

6) Use history

Winner history is stored locally for the current wheel, so you can see what you’ve picked recently.

Quick Examples

Example A: Weekend plan

Options:

  • Movie night
  • Hiking
  • Board games
  • Dinner out

Smart Mode (optional):

  • Attribute: energy (how energizing you feel)
  • Attribute weight: your preference for that day

Spin once to pick an activity.

Example B: Choose between suppliers

Options:

  • Supplier X
  • Supplier Y
  • Supplier Z

Smart Mode:

  • cost (lower is better)
  • quality (higher is better)
  • distance (closer is better)

Set attribute weights based on what matters most to you right now, then spin.

Common Questions

[accordion] [accordion-item title=“Is the choice truly random?” ] In default mode, the wheel uses weights and a random selection—so options with higher weights are more likely. In Smart Mode, the wheel calculates weights using your criteria and their importance. [/accordion-item]

[accordion-item title=“Can I reuse the same wheel later?” ] Your wheel configuration is stored locally in your browser (using a persisted store), so you can refresh and keep working. [/accordion-item]

[accordion-item title=“How do Smart Mode attributes affect the outcome?” ] Smart Mode converts your option attribute scores into internal selection weights. Then it performs weighted random selection. If you use cost, lower values score better. [/accordion-item]

[accordion-item title=“What if I want to avoid repeating an option?” ] Use Remove Winner to delete the selected option after each spin. [/accordion-item] [/accordion]

Advanced Tips

Use Paste for fast setup

Paste a list of items (one per line) to create many wheel options quickly.

Add realistic criteria

Smart Mode is best when your criteria are:

  • measurable (scores are repeatable)
  • relevant (you can justify your weighting)
  • independent (avoid double-counting the same idea)

Keep weights simple

If you’re unsure, start with equal attribute weights and adjust one criterion at a time.

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Note: A decision wheel is a planning aid—not a replacement for critical judgment. Use it to get unstuck and move forward.