Name Picker Wheel guide

Name Picker Wheel is a free random name picker for engineering teams. Paste a list, spin the wheel, and use the selected name to decide who goes first or takes the next agreed team task. It works in your browser without an account or installation. The wheel requires JavaScript; this guide does not.

Why this wheel exists

The wheel addresses a small coordination problem: a team needs someone to start the standup, facilitate a retrospective, or take the next review, and the same volunteers keep stepping in. A visible random pick gives the group a way to make that choice and move on.

The active list and backlog support a rotation where people take turns. Removing each selected name lets you work through the group before starting another round. This is useful for sharing visible responsibilities and creating opportunities to learn across the team. The article on knowledge silos explains the broader problem this tool is meant to help with.

Agree on who is eligible before spinning. For a code review, for example, include people with the availability and context to review it. A random choice cannot assess workload, expertise, or whether an assignment is appropriate.

Quick start

1. Open Name Picker Wheel.
2. Replace the example names in Active Names with your participants, one name per line. You need at least two nonempty entries to spin.
3. Optionally paste your full list of names into Names Backlog so you can restore it later.
4. Select Spin the Wheel, click the wheel, or press Space while outside a text field.
5. Wait for the animation to finish. The result appears in the Winner selected dialog.
6. Choose Remove from list to exclude that entry from the next spin, or Keep in list to leave it eligible.

For a standup with four participants, remove each selected person after their turn. When one name remains, that person goes last: the wheel does not spin with a single entry. Restore the full list when you are ready for another round.

Active Names and Names Backlog

Active Names

Only Active Names participates in the next spin. Edits update the wheel and the displayed name count. Blank lines are ignored, and spaces at the start or end of a line are trimmed when names are read.

Put each participant on a separate line. Commas do not split names: Alex, Sam on one line becomes one entry. If two people share a name, use labels such as Alex K and Alex M so the result is unambiguous.

Repeated names remain separate entries. If one person appears twice, they have two entries in the draw. To give each person the same opportunity, include them exactly once. Removing a winner deletes only the selected entry, so another copy of the same name can still be picked.

Names Backlog

Names Backlog holds a reusable list of names. It does not participate in spins until you select Repopulate active list.

Repopulate replaces the entire active list with the backlog. It does not merge the lists or preserve exclusions from the current round. Check the backlog first, then remove anyone absent from the restored active list before spinning. Editing the backlog alone does not change the active list.

Repopulate is unavailable when the backlog contains only whitespace or while the wheel is spinning. Keep a separate copy of your list of names if you need a reliable backup.

Spins and results

The app uses the browser’s cryptographic random-number generator to choose an active entry. The animation brings that entry to the pointer. Reshuffle changes the order of entries in Active Names; it does not choose a winner, remove anyone, or make a previous winner ineligible.

During a spin, both lists and the Spin, Reshuffle, and Repopulate controls are disabled. Wait for the result before editing the participants or starting another spin.

In the result dialog:

• Remove from list deletes the selected entry from Active Names, saves the changed active list, and closes the result. The backlog is unchanged.
• Keep in list closes the result without changing either list. The person can be selected again on the next spin.
• Escape or clicking the dimmed background also closes the result and keeps the entry eligible.

There is no result history or undo button. If you remove someone by mistake, add their name back to Active Names. Repopulate restores the whole backlog, including people already removed during this round.

Running a rotation without repeats

1. Put the full list of names in Names Backlog and select Repopulate active list.
2. Check Active Names for duplicate entries and remove anyone who is unavailable.
3. Spin, give the selected person their turn, and choose Remove from list.
4. Repeat while at least two entries remain. Give the last remaining person the final turn without spinning.
5. Select Repopulate active list when you want to begin a new round.

Removing names is manual. Keeping or dismissing a result does not prevent a repeat. The wheel also does not balance workload over time; repeated independent picks can select the same person unless you remove their entry.

For a retrospective, use the same process to rotate who presents first. For code reviews or recurring team tasks, update the eligible list to reflect the people who can take the work today. Use the result as an agreed assignment step, then record ownership in your team’s usual tool.

Keyboard controls

Press Space outside a text field to spin. Space inside either names field remains available for typing. You can also Tab to the wheel and press Enter to spin. The requirement for at least two entries still applies, and additional spin requests are ignored while the wheel is moving.

Use Escape to dismiss a displayed result while keeping the selected entry in the list. If you want a rotation without repeats, choose Remove from list explicitly.

Saved lists and privacy

The app saves Active Names and Names Backlog in local storage in the same browser. Edits, removals, reshuffles, and repopulation update the saved lists. Refreshing or returning later in that browser restores them when storage is available. A displayed result is not saved as history.

There is no account, server-side list of names, shared team state, or synchronization between devices. Sending someone the app URL does not send them your names or current rotation. On a shared computer, someone using the same browser profile may see the saved lists.

To remove saved names through the app, clear both fields. Clearing the site’s browser data also removes them, along with other saved PlanTheFlow tool data. Private browsing, blocked storage, or clearing browser data can prevent lists from being retained. The wheel can still run in memory when saving fails, but those changes may be lost on refresh.

Names are processed locally in the browser. The site also loads analytics; see the privacy policy for site-wide information.

Troubleshooting

The wheel will not spin

Check that JavaScript is enabled and Active Names contains at least two nonempty lines. A filled backlog alone is not enough: use Repopulate active list to copy it into Active Names. If a spin is already in progress, wait for it to finish.

The same person appears again

Check whether you kept or dismissed the previous result instead of removing it. Also look for duplicate entries or a repopulation that restored the full list of names. Reshuffle alone does not exclude previous winners.

My saved list of names is missing

Check that you are using the same browser profile and device, and that site storage is allowed. The app has no server backup. Paste your list of names again or, if it is still in Names Backlog, select Repopulate active list.

Open Name Picker Wheel to prepare a rotation, or return to the Name Picker Wheel overview.