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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Wardley MappingAssumption SurfacingCausal Loop Diagram
| Criterion |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Systems Thinking Wardley Mapping |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  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. | Wardley Mapping makes visible where an offering stands today and where it can evolve. The method connects user need, value chain, and evolution stages into a strategic basis for platform, build, or buy decisions. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | 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 | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 1-3 h | 45-90 min | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 2-10 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Wardley Map, Strategic Options, Evolution Notes | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Causal Loop Diagram, Feedback Notes, Leverage Points |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | StrategySystems thinkingDynamics | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | FeedbackSystems thinkingCausalityDynamics |