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| Criterion | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) | ![]() Innovation Crazy 8s | ![]() Innovation Lotus Blossom | ![]() Innovation 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. | With only a few minutes available and a still-fuzzy solution search, the method forces a wide range of variants. It produces fast sketches before the first idea can settle in, making different directions directly comparable and open to 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. | 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 | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 8-15 min | 45-90 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 1-10 | 3-10 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Sketch Set, Idea Shortlist, Direction Options | Lotus Diagram, Idea Themes, Shortlist | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | BrainstormingSketchingSpeedDivergenceDesign sprint | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityDivergenceWorkshop | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence |



