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Criterion
Paper illustration for Evaporating Cloud.
Systems Thinking
Evaporating Cloud
Causal Loop Diagram workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Systems Thinking
Causal Loop Diagram
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Stock and Flow Diagram method illustration showing its working structure
Systems Thinking
Stock and Flow Diagram
Purposedifferent
The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict.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.A Stock and Flow Diagram shows how stocks, inflows, and outflows shape a system over time. It is especially suited when growth, delays, or capacity limits determine the dynamics.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumMediumHigh
Timedifferent
60-120 min1-3 h2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional2-6 h
Participantsdifferent
2-82-8Designers, developers as users, and facilitation1-6
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next ExperimentsCausal Loop Diagram, Feedback Notes, Leverage PointsPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsStock and Flow Model, Dynamics Notes, Simulation Hypotheses
Tagsno overlap
Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking
FeedbackSystems thinkingCausalityDynamics
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
DynamicsSimulationFeedbackSystems thinking
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