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Criterion
Paper illustration for Evaporating Cloud.
Systems Thinking
Evaporating Cloud
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Paper illustration for Behavior Over Time Graph.
Systems Thinking
Behavior Over Time Graph
Purposedifferent
The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict.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.A Behavior Over Time Graph shows how a metric or observation develops over time. The method makes trends, breaks, and recurring patterns visible that get lost in snapshots.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
60-120 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional20-45 min
Participantsdifferent
2-8Designers, developers as users, and facilitation1-10
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next ExperimentsPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsBehavior Over Time Graph, Trend Hypotheses, Key Events
Tagsno overlap
Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
Systems thinkingPatternsDynamics
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Causal Loop Diagram workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Causal Loop Diagram
Stock and Flow Diagram method illustration showing its working structure
Systems Thinking
Stock and Flow Diagram
Paper illustration of System Archetypes with its method-specific working model.
Systems Thinking
System Archetypes
Paper illustration of a calm four-quadrant Assumption Map with hypothesis cards and emphasis on important assumptions with little evidence.
Product Discovery
Assumption Mapping