When the plan is ready, facilitation begins
Once the panel settings are configured, panelists added, and theses drafted, the facilitator's—or Delphi manager's—attention shifts from planning to the actual Delphi process: managing rounds, inviting panelists and communicating with them, and monitoring how responses and discussion progress.
The facilitator view at a glance
The anchor of the Delphi Pronoia facilitator view is the bar of four buttons at the top of the screen: Planning, Collection, Analysis, and Reporting. One of them is always active (orange), and its own button row opens below it. Status information appears between the rows as needed.
During the rounds, work takes place in Collection. Its buttons are:
- Overview – what stage the study is at and how responses are progressing
- Round management – opening and closing phases and preparing the next round
- Invitations – panelist invitation links and reminders
- Facilitation – guiding dialogue and following the discussion
- Community – panel composition and communication with the panel
- Responses – accumulated data by thesis.
Process phases
In variations using rounds, the process proceeds as follows.
Round 0 – opening the phenomenon. Selected experts, or key informants, open up and deepen understanding of the phenomenon in a chat discussion before the actual rounds. The discussion brings out perspectives, concepts, and tensions that the thesis drafters may not have noticed. Round 0 is not mandatory.
Round 1a – responding. Panelists evaluate the theses and justify their positions. Responses are given without seeing others' answers, so each view emerges independently.
Round 1b – dialogue. Panelists see each other's reasoning and can comment on it. Positions become more precise, challenge each other, or find common ground.
Break and preparation for the next round. The round is closed, and the facilitator reviews interim results. Based on the accumulated data, the next round is prepared: theses can be refined, split, or added.
Round 2a and 2b. The same rhythm repeats: first responding, then dialogue. There can be as many rounds as the study requires. The number of rounds is not limited.
AI is an option, not a requirement
In Delphi Pronoia, AI can be used in two ways:
- as a conversation partner in Round 0 – AI conducts a chat discussion with key informants according to instructions given by the researcher
- as simulation panelists – AI panelists represent perspectives in the panel that would otherwise be missing. Their responses are always clearly marked and reported separately from human panelists' positions.
Both are optional. A Delphi study can be conducted entirely without AI, and the facilitator decides on its use on a study-by-study basis.
Read more about Delphi Pronoia's features or explore a sample panel.