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| Criterion |  Innovation Design Thinking |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Decision Making Argument Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For complex user problems with an uncertain cause, the method connects observation, interpretation, and experiment into a learning cycle. It keeps the focus on real needs and avoids premature solution language. This produces robust decisions for product and service. | 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. | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. | When statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1 Tag bis mehrere Wochen | 45-90 min | 15-45 min | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | 2-8 | 1-3 | 1-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Prototype, Test Learnings | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | InnovationPrototypeResearch | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | SensemakingDecisionRationale |