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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 Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Stock and Flow Diagram method illustration showing its working structure
Systems Thinking
Stock and Flow Diagram
Causal Loop Diagram workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Causal Loop 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 a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumHighMedium
Timedifferent
2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional1-4 h2-6 h1-3 h
Participantsdifferent
Designers, developers as users, and facilitation3-81-62-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsProblem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action PlanStock and Flow Model, Dynamics Notes, Simulation HypothesesCausal Loop Diagram, Feedback Notes, Leverage Points
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident
DynamicsSimulationFeedbackSystems thinking
FeedbackSystems thinkingCausalityDynamics
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