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| Criterion |  Decision Making Argument Mapping |  Innovation Lotus Blossom |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Innovation Brainstorming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on. | 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. | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. | When a team faces an open question with many obvious directions, the method first creates breadth instead of premature commitment. It separates idea flow from evaluation and makes lines of thought visible, creating a pool for selection and further development. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 45-90 min | 15-45 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-8 | 3-10 | 1-3 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale | Lotus Diagram, Idea Themes, Shortlist | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | SensemakingDecisionRationale | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence |