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Selected:Causal Loop DiagramARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Barrier AnalysisCurrent Reality Tree
| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Causal Loop Diagram |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Operations Barrier Analysis |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | A Causal Loop Diagram makes feedback, reinforcement, and balance in a system legible. It uncovers side effects and self-reinforcement that stay hidden in linear explanations. | ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification. | For a risk that can only be managed through multiple layers of protection, the method examines the effectiveness of each barrier. It shows where safeguards are missing, too weak, or fail under real conditions. | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 2-4 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 2-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Causal Loop Diagram, Feedback Notes, Leverage Points | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Barrier Inventory, Failure Analysis per Barrier, Action Backlog | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | FeedbackSystems thinkingCausalityDynamics | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | Root causeSafetyIncident | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality |