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Criterion
Paper illustration of the Lightning Decision Jam working structure.
Facilitation
Decision Jam
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Paper illustration for Risk Storming.
Architecture
Risk Storming
Purposedifferent
When a decision is stuck, Decision Jam loosens the knot through structured separation of problem, idea, and selection. The format creates movement without jumping prematurely at the first seemingly elegant answer.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.Helps clarify architecture context, options, and consequences in concrete terms. It organizes technical context, alternatives, and consequences. The result is captured as an Annotated Diagram, a Prioritized Risk List, and an Action Backlog.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumLow
Timedifferent
60-90 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional60-90 min
Participantsdifferent
4-10Designers, developers as users, and facilitation4-12
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Problem Cluster, Prioritized Challenge, ExperimentPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsAnnotated Diagram, Prioritized Risk List, Action Backlog
Tagsno overlap
FacilitationDecisionProblem solvingWorkshop
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
RiskArchitectureWorkshopValidation
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of a calm four-quadrant Assumption Map with hypothesis cards and emphasis on important assumptions with little evidence.
Product Discovery
Assumption Mapping
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of the Consensus Workshop working structure.
Facilitation
Consensus Workshop