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| Criterion | ![]() Decision Making Assumption Surfacing | ![]() Architecture arc42 | ![]() Architecture Architecture Inception Canvas | ![]() Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. | The Architecture Inception Canvas bundles the first architecture questions into a compact decision picture. It fits when an initiative is still in motion but still needs clear guardrails. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-2 Tage | 1-2 h | 45-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 1-4 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Inception Canvas, Risks, Goal List, Open Questions | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | AlignmentArchitectureCanvas | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation |



