5 ways to use dembrane

dembrane is a set of building blocks designed to support dialogue and deliberative processes. Facilitators and process designers can pick and choose the blocks (or layers) they need, leaving the rest.

At its foundation, dembrane is a secure record-keeper. As you climb to higher layers, the feedback loop gets tighter and faster, moving from a broad look back over a whole process to a targeted question inside an active conversation.

The Five Layers of dembrane#

1. RECORD: Looking back on a whole process#

• What it does: Turns any number of participant phones into a secure system of record. Every conversation is securely recorded, transcribed with state-of-the-art models, and stored centrally on encrypted servers.
• Participant Relation: Most participants consent to being recorded when framed clearly as optional, secure, and privacy-safe.
• What it takes: Facilitation remains unchanged. The host sets up a project, establishes anonymization and keyword rules, secures informed consent, and scans a QR code to start recording.

2. ASK: Looking back on a session#

• What it does: Merges, structures, and de-duplicates what was said across multiple tables simultaneously into a cohesive first draft of outcomes or recommendations. It can also identify blind spots (e.g., highlighting groups mentioned as rhetorical devices who are not present).
• Participant Relation: Participants appreciate seeing hundreds of hours of discussion synthesized into concrete takeaways, provided it is presented in their own words rather than as a machine verdict.
• What it takes: Introduce a synthesis step to generate the merged draft, then bring it back to the participants to validate and inspect.

3. VERIFY: Looking back on a conversation#

• What it does: Closes the feedback loop while the conversation is still warm. dembrane drafts a live table summary and hands it back to the participants right in the room so they can correct it and sign off on what gets saved.
• Participant Relation: Tends to land very well because it respects participants’ authority over their own words. People appreciate being asked “did we get you right?” and will actively correct the record.
• What it takes: Design a 5-minute live review moment at each table to read the summary back, critique it, and correct any missed threads or connections.

4. EXPLORE: Looking forward inside a live conversation#

• What it does: Listens to the friction or circles in an ongoing conversation and, when prompted, offers a sharp, Socratic question to break through performance and deepen the dialogue.
• Participant Relation: A timely, sharp question is felt as a gift that opens up the conversation; a clumsy or ill-timed one can feel like a gimmick. It only lands when the conversation is already alive.
• What it takes: Brief participants on the option and determine where a live question might add value. Highly experimental, and particularly useful in unfacilitated or self-guided settings.

0. SHARE: Looking across processes (Data Commons)#

• What it does: Pools anonymized deliberative data into a governed data commons, enabling researchers and practitioners to analyze what makes deliberation and collective decision-making work across different contexts and countries.
• Participant Relation: In many contexts, participants are honored that their words will have an impact beyond their local room. In others, it is an unacceptable risk. Stakeholder check-in is vital.
• What it takes: Fully opt-in, with a separate data-sharing agreement and clear participant notice.

Design Philosophy#

• Design for Friction: dembrane is not a way out of the hard parts of deliberation. The hard work of deliberating remains entirely with the people. The platform chooses not to optimize for friction-free machine conclusions, but rather to use friction (like the VERIFY step) to keep human participants in complete authority over their own words.
• Pick and Choose: Process designers should walk through these five layers to see which ones earn their place in a specific process, turning on only the exact features required.