LenswyseFrequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about how Lenswyse works.
What is Lenswyse?
How does Lenswyse work?
1. Host creates a Challenge: The host sets up a Challenge with 1-20 rounds, each with a custom question, a scoring lens that defines how answers will be judged, and a feedback tone that determines the style of AI feedback participants receive.
2. Participants join: Everyone joins using a 6-character code (no account needed). Participants enter a display name and wait in the lobby.
3. Round starts: The host starts a round, and participants have a set time (typically 30-60 seconds) to submit their answers. Answers are limited to 50-200 characters to keep responses concise.
4. AI judges answers: When the timer ends, the host clicks "Judge" and AI evaluates each answer against the scoring lens criteria. Each answer receives scores across multiple criteria (e.g., creativity, clarity, originality) and a total score out of 100 points.
5. Results revealed: After judging, everyone sees the round winner, their answer, and an AI-generated explanation of why it won. Participants also see their own personalized feedback with their score and rationale.
6. Challenge continues: The process repeats for each round. Points accumulate across all rounds, and at the end, the overall Challenge winners (gold, silver, bronze) are announced.
What are scoring lenses?
Scoring lenses define how the AI evaluates answers. Each lens has specific criteria with different weights that determine what makes an answer "good" for that particular evaluation style.
Quiz lenses: Designed for fact-based quizzing, these lenses evaluate whether answers are factually correct. "Quiz - Exact Match" requires precise answers (correct answers get full credit, incorrect get zero), while "Quiz - Close Match" awards partial credit for directionally correct answers, making it ideal for estimation questions or when approximate answers are acceptable.
Methodology lenses: These lenses assess how well participants understand and apply thinking frameworks. Examples include "First Principles" (evaluating fundamentals, originality, and clarity), "Creative Thinking" (focusing on novelty, usefulness, and expression), and "Design Thinking" (emphasizing user empathy, problem definition, and testable solutions). These are perfect for checking comprehension of concepts and frameworks rather than factual recall.
Fun lenses: Lighthearted options like "Answer Like Yoda", "LinkedIn Post", and "Clickbait Headline" add entertainment value to challenges while still requiring participants to engage thoughtfully with the question, just in a playful style.
See all available scoring lenses for details.
How does AI judging work?
When you click "Judge", the AI evaluates each answer independently against the scoring lens criteria. For each criterion in the lens, it assigns a score from 0-10 based on how well the answer meets that specific criterion. These individual scores are then weighted according to the lens configuration and combined to produce a total score (maximum 100 points per round). The answer with the highest total score wins the round.
Personalized feedback: Every participant who submits an answer receives personalized AI-generated feedback tailored to their response. This feedback explains why they received their scores, highlights what they did well, and offers constructive suggestions for improvement. The feedback tone matches the style you selected when creating the challenge, allowing you to customize the experience and make each challenge unique.
Fairness and consistency: All answers in a round are evaluated using the exact same standards. When participants have the same high score, the first submitted answer wins the round.
Leaderboard timing: The seconds shown on the final leaderboard represent cumulative submission time across all rounds. For each round, submission times are measured relative to the first person who submitted in that round (not the round start time). The first person to submit in each round gets 0 seconds for that round, and others are measured relative to that first submission. These times are summed across all rounds. If participants are tied on total points and number of rounds won, the participant with the faster cumulative submission time ranks higher.
What's the difference between Lite Rounds and Pro Rounds?
Lenswyse offers two AI judging modes, depending on the size of your group and how deep you want to go.
Lite Rounds
Lite Rounds are designed for fast, lightweight sessions.
- Best for small groups (up to 10 participants)
- Short answers (up to 100 characters)
- Basic context support (up to 250 characters of your own background context)
- Included for free: you get 50 Lite Rounds, and subscriptions include additional Lite Rounds
- Ideal for quick warm-ups, small team activities, and testing new challenges
Pro Rounds
Pro Rounds are built for larger groups and more thoughtful discussion.
- Supports larger groups (up to 30 participants)
- Longer, more detailed answers (up to 400 characters)
- Deeper reasoning and more advanced analysis
- Enhanced context understanding (up to 1,000 characters of your own background context)
- Always paid: each round consumes 1 Pro Round
- Ideal for workshops, learning checks, and meaningful conversations at scale
In short
Both Lite and Pro use the same AI scoring system and evaluation lenses. The difference is depth and scale. Choose Lite for quick, casual sessions. Choose Pro when you need richer answers, deeper thinking, and support for larger groups.
What can hosts do?
- Create Challenges with 1-20 rounds, each with custom questions and scoring lenses
- Save challenge configurations for reuse (max 5 saved)
- Share join links or 6-character codes with participants
- Monitor live participant and submission counts
- Control round timing and choose between Lite or Pro judging mode
- View round winners, AI rationale, and accumulative leaderboards
- See final Challenge results with overall winners (gold, silver, bronze)
- Delete all round data (sessions, rounds, answers, results) at any time from the account page, while preserving saved challenge templates and Pro Rounds, or delete the entire account including all data and Pro Rounds
What can participants do?
- Join instantly with just a display name (no account needed)
- Submit answers during active rounds
- View round winners and AI rationale after each round
- See personalized feedback with their score and AI rationale (if they submitted an answer)
- View final Challenge results and overall leaderboard
How much does it cost?
Lite Rounds: Free to use with monthly limits. You receive a base allocation of Lite Rounds for free, and subscriptions include additional Lite Rounds. Perfect for small groups and quick activities.
Pro Rounds: Always paid. Each round consumes 1 Pro Round. Pro Rounds are included in subscriptions, and you can add more Pro Rounds by purchasing Pro Round packs. Ideal for larger groups and more detailed challenges. See pricing for details.
Is there a free trial?
Do I need a subscription to run Pro Rounds?
No, you can buy Pro Round packages without a subscription. However, subscriptions give you Pro Rounds for about the same price as buying packages, plus you get additional features on top like monthly Lite Rounds, more rounds per challenge, longer round durations, and access to extra tones and lenses. If you plan to use Pro Rounds regularly, starting with a subscription is typically the better value, and you can always add Pro Round packages if you need more.
How do I cancel my subscription?
You can cancel your subscription at any time from your account page. When you cancel, your subscription will remain active until the end of your current billing period, so you'll continue to have access to all subscription features until then. After the period ends, your subscription will not renew and you'll return to the free tier. You can manage your subscription, view billing history, and update payment methods through the billing portal accessible from your account page.
Do participants need accounts?
How long does a Challenge take?
Does it work for remote teams?
Is there a limit on participants?
Can I use Lenswyse for different purposes?
Absolutely! Lenswyse is designed to be flexible. Use it for:
- Playful team warm-ups - Fun icebreakers at the start of meetings
- Meaningful conversations - Guided prompts for honest dialogue
- Workshop learning checks - See what participants really learned
- AI-guided brainstorms - Generate and prioritize ideas
What happens to my data?
Hosts have full control over their data.
You can delete all your challenge data (sessions, rounds, participants, answers, results) at any time from the account page while keeping your account, saved challenge templates, and Pro Rounds.
Alternatively, you can delete your entire account including all data, email, and Pro Rounds. Both options are available from the account page at any time.
We use AI moderation to filter inappropriate content before judging. Answers that are flagged as inappropriate, offensive, or violate our content policies are automatically filtered out and will not be judged or displayed in results.