This study explores the impact of designing online forums according to deliberative principles on democratic outcomes, comparing them with general online citizen discussions. Conducted in 2013 with 70 participants, the experiment used a post-test only, 2×2 factorial design with a control group. The findings indicate that forums designed for deliberation generally foster positive democratic outcomes—such as coherence of opinions, increased efficacy, trust, and civic participation—though not uniformly across all measures. The study also addresses methodological concerns that may affect the validity of the results and suggests implications for future research.