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Reading Results

Confab helps a group do more than collect responses. It helps the group interpret them.

For the current MVP, the most important result-reading surfaces are Compare and Feedback.

If those two views help a team understand trade-offs and move toward a decision, the core product is working.

The Main Result Views​

Compare​

The compare view is where you review options side by side.

Use it to:

  • scan attributes across options
  • spot obvious trade-offs quickly
  • see where one option is clearly stronger or weaker
  • identify missing information that needs to be filled in

Compare is especially useful when the decision includes structured attributes such as cost, effort, timing, risk, or impact.

Feedback​

The feedback view helps you review participant responses across the decision.

Use it to:

  • identify where the group agrees
  • identify where disagreement is concentrated
  • see which options have strong support or concern
  • find gaps where responses are still missing

Feedback matters because a decision is rarely just about raw scores. It is also about understanding why the team feels differently about the options.

Analysis​

Analysis can add more visual interpretation, but it is secondary during MVP evaluation.

Use it when you want a more focused lens on patterns across the decision. Do not rely on it as the only way to understand results during the beta.

What To Look For In Compare​

When you open compare, ask:

  • Which options are clearly strongest on the attributes that matter most?
  • Which options look attractive only because key data is missing?
  • Are there trade-offs the team needs to discuss explicitly?
  • Is one option obviously weaker across multiple dimensions?

Compare is doing its job when it makes those questions easier to answer at a glance.

What To Look For In Feedback​

When you open feedback, ask:

  • Are people aligned or split?
  • Are there strong objections hiding behind average-looking numbers?
  • Which option has the most confidence behind it?
  • Which option is generating uncertainty, caution, or disagreement?

Feedback is doing its job when it turns scattered individual input into something the group can reason about.

A Good MVP Interpretation Pattern​

For most MVP decisions, use this order:

  1. Review the decision context.
  2. Use compare to understand the option landscape.
  3. Use feedback to understand team alignment and disagreement.
  4. Revisit the options that still need clarification.
  5. Record the outcome once the trade-offs are clear enough.

That pattern keeps the team focused on understanding before deciding.

Signs The Product Is Helping​

Confab is helping when:

  • the group can explain why one option is rising
  • disagreement becomes easier to discuss, not harder
  • compare and feedback reduce the need to reconstruct the decision in a meeting
  • the final outcome feels like the result of visible reasoning rather than hidden preference

Signs Something Is Missing​

The workflow may still need work if:

  • compare feels like a table with no decision value
  • feedback shows activity but not clarity
  • the team still needs a separate spreadsheet to understand trade-offs
  • the outcome depends on private interpretation rather than visible structure

Those are useful beta findings.