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Criterion
Paper illustration for Affinity Estimation.
Agile
Affinity Estimation
Paper illustration of a decision table with criteria rows, weighted ratings, and a narrowly leading alternative.
Decision Making
Decision Matrix
Paper illustration for Ideal Days.
Agile
Ideal Days
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Purposedifferent
When many tasks need to be classified quickly, it sorts them by perceived effort and similarity. It reduces the effort of fine-grained estimation for large volumes.When several options collide with several criteria, comparison quickly becomes subjective. A Decision Matrix makes the trade-off visible and brings weighting, criteria, and options into a shared logic.When effort needs to be thought of as real working time, it offers a simple common denominator for comparison. It sorts work by value, risk, and delivery ability. The result is captured as Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, and Capacity Caveats.With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
30-90 min45-90 min15-60 min45-120 min
Participantsdifferent
3-122-82-92-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Affinity Size Map, Grouped Estimates, Unclear ItemsDecision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected OptionIdeal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, Capacity CaveatsTrade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides
Tagsno overlap
EstimationBacklogRelative sizing
DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs
EstimationEffortAgile
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
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