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| Criterion | ![]() Architecture C4 Model | ![]() Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud | ![]() Decision Making Delphi Method | ![]() Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The C4 Model makes a system legible across several resolution levels, from context down to code. It suits situations where different audiences need to understand the same architecture from different altitudes. | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | When knowledge is distributed and direct dominance should be avoided, groups quickly fall under the sway of their opinion leaders. The Delphi Method gathers assessments iteratively and gradually brings expert judgments closer together. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 60-120 min | 1-4 Wochen | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-5 | 2-8 | 6-30 Experten | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Expert Forecast, Consensus Range, Assumption Notes | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | ForecastingExpertsDecisionStrategy | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |



