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Criterion
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
A paper-based illustration representing Design Sprint with its core stages and visible working result.
Innovation
Design Sprint
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint Analysis
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.When the product question is unclear and time pressure is high, the method takes a team from an open idea to a testable solution. It connects problem understanding, decision, and learning in one compact format, lowering the risk of spending a lot of energy on a mere guess.In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighLowLow
Timedifferent
45-90 min4-5 Tage20–45 min30-90 min
Participantsdifferent
2-85-8Small cross-functional group2-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning PlanPrototype, Test Findings, Decision RationaleRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logConstraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries
Tagsno overlap
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
Design sprintPrototypeValidationInnovation
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions
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