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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)
A paper-based illustration representing Brainstorming with its core stages and visible working result.
Innovation
Brainstorming
Paper illustration of the Lotus Blossom working structure.
Innovation
Lotus Blossom
Paper illustration for Reverse Brainstorming
Innovation
Reverse Brainstorming
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 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.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.For persistent errors or blockages, the method shifts the view to the opposite of the desired effect. It exposes the mechanics of failure and makes hidden causes easier to grasp. This makes improvement more concrete and the problem clearer.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowLowLow
Timedifferent
2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional30-60 min45-90 min30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
Designers, developers as users, and facilitation4-123-103-12
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsIdea pool, Theme clusters, ShortlistLotus Diagram, Idea Themes, ShortlistReverse Ideas, Risk Themes, Solution Ideas
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence
BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop
BrainstormingIdeationCreativityRisk
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