Brainstorming

Groups and Synthesis

Gather related notes in a named frame and write what they add up to, without rewriting anyone's ideas.

When several notes point in the same direction, group them. A group is a named frame around notes that stay where they are, with an optional synthesis: a short text in your own words about what those notes have in common. Groups are the usual step between exploring and deciding.

The group Tobin's motives framing three notes, with its synthesis beside them, a note kept for later, a discarded note, and the round's decisions lane below

Create a group

Select two or more shared notes of the same round.
Select Group in the selection toolbar, or press Cmd/Ctrl+G.
Give the group a title on its header.

The frame surrounds the notes in their current positions. Nothing about the notes changes: they keep their author, text, round, and connections, and can still be selected and edited one by one.

Write a synthesis

Select the group and choose the synthesis button on its header. The synthesis has its own space beside the notes, so writing it never covers what the notes say. A good synthesis states the idea the notes share in one or two sentences: “Guilt, not ambition. He wants Mara free of the harbor’s debt, even if that means she leaves.”

The synthesis is not a decision. It describes what the group found; a decision says what the team will do about it. When you are ready to agree on it, the group’s synthesis can become the starting point of a decision. See Decisions.

Move and change a group

Drag the group’s header to move the frame and all its notes together.
Double-click the title to rename the group, and use the pencil on the synthesis to rewrite it.
Add to group and Remove from group in the selection toolbar change which notes belong to it, without deleting any.
The ungroup button on the group’s header separates the notes and keeps the synthesis on the canvas as a standalone card. The delete button removes the frame and its synthesis; the notes stay.

Group changes are part of your undo history, like any other canvas action.

Rules for groups

A note belongs to one group at a time.
A group lives in the round of its notes. While that round is private, its groups are hidden and notes cannot be grouped until the round is revealed.
Grouping never publishes a note or edits someone else’s text.
Any editor can organize shared groups and edit their synthesis. Viewers can read them.