The online constellation board that stores nothing
Place a figure for each person or force in a situation. Set how close they stand. Turn them to show who looks at whom. Then step inside any figure and see the system from where it stands. Free, no account, and the board stays in your browser.
- Free, no time limit
- No account
- Nothing is uploaded
- English and German
Where it is used
One board, four kinds of conversation
The board does not care whether the system is a family, a team or a decision. It shows distance, direction and relationship, and those mean the same thing everywhere.
Why this one
The whole method, not a trial version
Every other online constellation board is a paid product with a clock running. This one is free, and it does not keep your client's system on anybody's server.
Nothing is uploaded
The board lives in your browser while you work. No account is attached to it, no session is recorded, and nothing is sent anywhere. This matters because a constellation holds the names of real people who never agreed to be on a server.
Free, with no clock running
No trial period, no hourly rate, no card. Open the page and work. Come back tomorrow and work again.
Distance, direction, relationship
Move a figure to change closeness. Turn it to change where it looks. Draw a straight line for a bond and a jagged one for tension, the same convention a genogram uses.
Field of view and distance rings
Show what a figure can actually see from where it stands, and read the distances instead of estimating them. Two things a wooden board cannot do.
Stand inside a figure
Switch to first person and look out from any position on the board. "What does it look like from there" stops being a thought experiment.
70 figures to tell people apart
Six shapes in seven colors, with eyes or a nose to show direction. Enough range to keep a family separate from a team, and to mark something that is not a person at all.
How to work with it
Six steps, and the fifth is the one that matters
Name the system
Decide what you are looking at. A family, a team, a decision, a conflict. One system at a time, and say out loud which one it is.
Choose the figures
One figure for each person or force that belongs in it. A figure can stand for a topic, a rule or an absent person just as well as for someone in the room.
Place them
Position carries the meaning. Close and far, facing and turned away, central and at the edge. Do not explain while placing, place first.
Look at what you built
Step back and read it. Circular questions work well here: what would she say about standing that far away?
How to use it well
The method behind the board
What a constellation board is, where it came from, and how to run one without leading your client to your own answer.
What is a constellation board?
The definition, the history from Ludewig and Wilken's family board to today, and what the method actually claims to do.
Read moreHow to run a constellation
The six steps in order, what to say at each one, and the mistakes that turn a constellation into a lecture.
Read moreQuestions to ask
A bank of questions for each step, including the circular ones that make the board talk back.
Read moreFamily systems
Working with families, couples and origin systems on a board, and where the line to therapy sits.
Read moreTeams and organizations
Roles, reporting lines, silos and stakeholders. What changes when the system is a company.
Read moreOnline board or wooden board
An honest comparison. What the wooden board still does better, and the three things only a digital one can do.
Read moreFor coaches
Running the board in an online session, what to tell a client about their data, and how to keep a record when you need one.
Read moreFAQ
Constellation boards, answered
- What is a constellation board?
- A constellation board is a flat surface on which small figures stand for the people and forces in a situation. Where each figure stands, how far it is from the others and which way it faces carry the meaning. Moving one figure shows what that change would do to the rest.
- How do you use a constellation board?
- Name the system, choose a figure for each element, place them so the distances and directions feel right, then look at the picture together. Move one figure and read the effect. Finish by saying what changed between the first arrangement and the last.
- Is this really free?
- Yes. There is no trial period, no hourly rate and no card. Other online constellation boards charge from about 8 euros an hour to 48 euros a month. This one is free because it is made by metaFox.online, a coaching platform, and it is how coaches find us.
- Is my client's constellation stored anywhere?
- No. The board lives in your browser while you work and nothing is uploaded. There is no account on it and no session record. That matters because a constellation holds the names of real people who never agreed to be on anyone's server.
- Do I need an account?
- Not to use the board. An account on metaFox.online is only needed if you want to keep a board after you close the tab, tie it to a client record or bring it into a coaching session alongside other tools.
- Is this the same as a family constellation?
- Not quite. A family constellation traditionally uses people standing in a room as representatives. A board does the same work with figures on a surface, which makes it usable one to one, online, and without asking anyone to represent a stranger's mother.
- Who invented the constellation board?
- It grew out of the family board used in family therapy, developed by Kurt Ludewig and Ulrich Wilken. The name Systembrett, meaning system board, was published in 2006 by Wolfgang Polt and Markus Rimser, who widened it from families to any system.
- Is a digital board as good as a wooden one?
- For weight, texture and the feel of placing a figure by hand, no. For working with someone who is not in the room, for showing what a figure can see, and for reading exact distances, the digital board does things wood cannot.
- What can I use a constellation board for?
- Family and couple systems, team structures, role conflicts, stakeholder maps, a decision with several pulls on it, or an inner conflict with parts of yourself as figures. Anywhere the relationships matter more than the facts.
- What is the field of view for?
- It draws what a figure can actually see from where it stands. Two figures can be close and still not see each other. The cone makes that visible instead of leaving it to interpretation.
- What are the distance rings?
- Rings around a figure so distances can be read rather than guessed. Useful when a client says two people are equally close and the board shows they are not.
- What do the relation lines mean?
- A straight line marks a bond. A jagged line marks tension or conflict, which is the convention a genogram uses. A directional line shows a pull that runs one way only.
- Does it work on a tablet?
- Yes. It runs in the browser with no installation, and figures can be placed by touch. A larger screen is easier for reading distances.
- Can I keep a board and come back to it?
- The board stays in your browser between visits on the same device. To keep it properly, tie it to a client or open it on another machine, create a free account on metaFox.online.
- Which languages does it work in?
- English and German. The German version is written in German, not translated, and uses the vocabulary German-speaking coaches actually use: Systembrett, Aufstellung, Blickfeld.
- Do I need training to use it?
- To place figures, no. To run a constellation for someone else, some training in systemic work helps, mostly so you ask rather than interpret. The questions page is a starting point.
Keep your boards, and your clients, in one place
The board here is free and always will be. A free metaFox.online account is where you keep boards after the tab closes, attach them to a client, and run them inside a coaching session next to your other tools.
Free to start. No card required.
