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| Criterion |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |  Architecture Software Architecture Canvas |  Innovation Lotus Blossom |  Architecture Architecture Inception Canvas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | The Software Architecture Canvas reduces a system to the most important architecture decisions, constraints, and interfaces. It is useful when teams need a resilient overall picture quickly. | When a central question feels too large, the method breaks it into neighboring topic fields with their own depth of ideation. It holds structure and openness at the same time, so adjacent perspectives don't get lost. This grows an idea space out of a core problem. | The Architecture Inception Canvas bundles the first architecture questions into a compact decision picture. It fits when an initiative is still in motion but still needs clear guardrails. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 1-2 h | 45-90 min | 1-2 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 | 3-10 | 3-10 | 3-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Architecture Canvas, Goals, Constraints, Quality Attributes | Lotus Diagram, Idea Themes, Shortlist | Inception Canvas, Risks, Goal List, Open Questions |
Tagsno overlap | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | CanvasArchitectureAlignmentWorkshop | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop | AlignmentArchitectureCanvas |