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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)
Causal Loop Diagram workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Causal Loop Diagram
Paper illustration for Current Reality Tree
Systems Thinking
Current Reality Tree
Stock and Flow Diagram method illustration showing its working structure
Systems Thinking
Stock and Flow 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.A Causal Loop Diagram makes feedback, reinforcement, and balance in a system legible. It uncovers side effects and self-reinforcement that stay hidden in linear explanations.A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once.A Stock and Flow Diagram shows how stocks, inflows, and outflows shape a system over time. It is especially suited when growth, delays, or capacity limits determine the dynamics.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumHighHigh
Timedifferent
2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional1-3 h2-6 h2-6 h
Participantsdifferent
Designers, developers as users, and facilitation2-83-81-6
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsCausal Loop Diagram, Feedback Notes, Leverage PointsCurrent Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention IdeasStock and Flow Model, Dynamics Notes, Simulation Hypotheses
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
FeedbackSystems thinkingCausalityDynamics
Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality
DynamicsSimulationFeedbackSystems thinking
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