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Selected:Futures WheelCausal Loop DiagramGetting Things DoneARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
| Criterion | ![]() Systems Thinking Futures Wheel | ![]() Systems Thinking Causal Loop Diagram | ![]() Operations Getting Things Done | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The Futures Wheel helps explore the consequences of a decision, a trend, or a strategic move in a structured way. It makes visible which first, second, and third-order effects could arise from an event. | 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. | With many open commitments and ideas in daily life, a reliable external storage system emerges. The method relieves the mind so priority and context don't have to compete in memory. | 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. |
Complexitysame | Medium | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 1-3 h | 1-2 h Setup, laufend | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-8 | 1 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Futures Wheel, Consequence Chains, Strategic Signals | Causal Loop Diagram, Feedback Notes, Leverage Points | Action Lists, Project List, Review Routine | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions |
Tagsno overlap | ForesightSystems thinkingSignals | FeedbackSystems thinkingCausalityDynamics | ProductivityPlanningTasksExecution | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks |



