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Criterion
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Paper illustration of a team retrospective with three separate Start, Stop, and Continue areas and a shared action list.
Agile
Start Stop Continue
Paper illustration for Mad Sad Glad
Agile
Mad Sad Glad
Purposedifferent
LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail.When a team wants to deliberately adjust its working behavior, it makes habits visible and assessable. It focuses on concrete changes instead of diffuse mood.When a team's or workshop's mood needs to become readable, it structures emotional signals with little setup. It makes strain, relief, and sources of energy tangible.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowLow
Timedifferent
3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional30-60 min30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people3-123-10
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Lean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checksStart Stop Continue Board, Improvement ActionsEmotion Board, Themes, Action Items
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
RetrospectiveImprovementTeamReflection
RetrospectiveTeamReflection
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

A structured reflection surfaces what was liked, learned, lacked, and longed for. It is a conversation format and does not validate actions automatically.
Agile
4Ls Retrospective
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Sailboat Retrospective
Agile
Sailboat Retrospective
Paper illustration for Starfish Retrospective
Agile
Starfish Retrospective