This article appears in print in the December 2019 issue. Click here to subscribe.

Three Seattle-area natives have created an app to simplify the process of reaching consensus. Sujjest (available for Android and iOS), born out of frustration with email chains and chaotic group texts, was devised by three friends from the South End who wanted an easier way to make the daily decision about where to eat lunch. Sol DeLeon, Kjell Hansen and Jeff Cole fused their various business, tech and design backgrounds to create a tool that would allow them to more easily corral friends’ opinions. Sujjest operates through a game-like interface, where users can create questions and possible answers and later vote on the suggestions, from what time to meet up to next weekend’s big plans. The first suggestion to cross a virtual finish line wins, and the decision is made. “We are hopeful that the tool really encourages people to work together and have more buy-in to the decision that they ultimately make, as opposed to just leaving it up to somebody else,” says DeLeon.