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Criterion
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Paper illustration for Option Framing.
Decision Making
Option Framing
Paper illustration for 3-Circle Venn Diagram
Facilitation
3-Circle Venn Diagram
Purposedifferent
ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification.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.In early decisions, alternatives are often still vague, incomplete, or blended together. Option Framing brings every possibility into a comparable form and makes visible which variant actually fits the question.When three perspectives matter at the same time, a Three-Circle Venn Diagram shows the overlaps and remainders precisely. It makes visible where shared effect arises and where only a partial perspective applies.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional1-2 h45-120 min15-45 min
Participantsdifferent
Designers, developers as users, and facilitation4-123-82-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsAlignment Map, Open Issues, Decision QuestionsOption Frames, Assumption Notes, Comparable Shortlist, Decision InputsVenn Diagram, Overlap Notes, Differentiators
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
OptionsDecision framingStrategyComparison
ComparisonFacilitationAlignment
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