While writing: everything
Other people's cards are withheld by the server, not just hidden by the screen — the text is not sent to your browser until the reveal.
Anonymous while it matters, and honest about where that stops.
The retro that surfaces the real problem is the one where nobody is watching you type it. ScrumPoi hides every card while the team writes and never puts a name on one afterwards. It also does not pretend that is the same as untraceable.
- Hidden while writing
- Never attributed after the reveal
- Votes shown as counts
How it works
- Step 1
Everyone writes blind
You see your own cards. Everyone else's appear as blank tiles filling the column, so you can watch the board fill up without reading a word of it.
- Step 2
The reveal shows cards, not people
When the facilitator flips the board every card becomes readable — with no author on it. Not initials, not a colour, not a hover. Not for the facilitator either.
- Step 3
Reactions are counted, not listed
Agree, disagree or not sure on each card. The board shows how many, never who. The cards reorder by response and the discussion follows the room, not the loudest voice.
What stays hidden, and what does not
After the reveal: the author
Cards are never labelled with who wrote them. Not on the board, not in the summary, not in the PDF export. The product has no screen that shows it.
Votes: who reacted
Every card shows counts for agree, disagree and not sure. Which participant chose which is not displayed anywhere.
What is not anonymous
Names are visible in the participant list, and a card's wording can give its author away. The server also attaches an internal participant id to each card for its own bookkeeping — nothing displays it, but a technically curious participant could read it in their browser's network tools. And in a room of two, hiding is arithmetic, not anonymity.
Frequently asked questions
Are retrospective cards anonymous in ScrumPoi?
Yes, in the sense that matters for a retro: hidden from everyone while the team writes, and never attributed to a person after the reveal — on the board, in the summary, or in the PDF. They are not cryptographically untraceable; see the next answer.
Can the facilitator see who wrote a card?
Not through the product. There is no facilitator view that shows authors. The server does attach an internal participant id to each card, which is how you can edit your own, and someone determined enough to open their browser's developer tools could see it. ScrumPoi does not display it anywhere and does not export it.
Are the votes anonymous?
The board shows counts only — how many agreed, disagreed, or were unsure. Individual reactions are never listed.
Why hide the cards while writing?
Because the alternative is a room where the first card sets the tone. When people can see what others are typing, the second card is usually a reaction to the first rather than an independent observation, and the quiet person's real concern never gets written at all.
Does anonymity make retrospectives worse?
It can, if it is used to avoid ownership. That is why the anonymity is scoped to the writing and the cards, not the follow-through: action items are assigned to a named person, and that name is on the summary everyone takes away.
Does everyone need an account?
No. Participants join by link with a display name. That name is visible in the participant list; it is never attached to a card.