View methods side by side.
Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.
| Criterion | ![]() Architecture C4 Model | ![]() Systems Thinking Rich Picture | ![]() Facilitation Stakeholder Mapping | ![]() Systems Thinking CATWOE Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | A Rich Picture brings an unclear situation onto a shared drawing. It captures actors, tensions, information flows, and blind spots before the team jumps to solutions too early. | When an initiative depends on many people, interests, and power dynamics, Stakeholder Mapping systematically orders the environment. It shows who influences, who is affected, and where relationship management or safeguarding matters first. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 30-90 min | 60–90 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-5 | 2-10 | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | Rich Picture, Problem Framing Notes | Stakeholder Map, Engagement Plan, Risk Notes | CATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | Systems thinkingSoft systemsFramingVisualization | StakeholdersAlignmentFacilitationChange | Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders |



