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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Systems Thinking CATWOE Analysis |  Decision Making Decision Matrix |  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. | CATWOE structures a problem from six viewpoints and prevents too narrow a view of the situation. Different experiences of the system become comparably discussable this way. | When several options collide with several criteria, comparison quickly becomes subjective. A Decision Matrix makes the trade-off visible and brings weighting, criteria, and options into a shared logic. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 45-90 min | 45-90 min | 45-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | CATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints | Decision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected Option | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders | DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation |