Value Ranker

Value Ranker is a simple web app I built to help people figure out what they actually care about. It presents you with two values at a time, each with a short description, and you pick which one resonates more with you. As the values go head to head, it builds up a ranked list of your personal values.

Since it takes a while to go through all the comparisons, I output the selections at the bottom so you can copy them and save your progress. To finish later you simply paste them back in at the top to continue where you left off.

I built this in order to complete an exercise Michelle Akin suggested in our coaching. For some reason looking at a list of values and picking the ones that jumped out at me didn’t feel like it would lead to what I really care about. I needed a more systematic approach. By making the values compete against each other and forcing a choice I had to really confront what mattered to me the most.

This system is not perfect. First off the list of values is not exhaustive. Even with the force ranking algo I used it takes a very long time to go through all the battles so I had to limit the list. Secondly, the human heart is not consistent. In the app you could not say that you value A more than B, B more than C, but then C more than A, but in real life that may be the case. Lastly, I found as I went through the comparisons that I was often switching between what I thought I should value versus what values my behaviors indicated (revealed preferences anyone?). So to combat that I went through the whole process twice, once focusing on what I think I should value, and once focusing on what my actions indicate I value. The results were quite different. If you would like to see my results you can check them out here.