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| Criterion |  Facilitation Mind Mapping |  Agile Affinity Estimation |  Agile Ideal Days |  Facilitation Dot Estimation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | When many tasks need to be classified quickly, it sorts them by perceived effort and similarity. It reduces the effort of fine-grained estimation for large volumes. | When effort needs to be thought of as real working time, it offers a simple common denominator for comparison. It sorts work by value, risk, and delivery ability. The result is captured as Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, and Capacity Caveats. | When size or effort can only be estimated roughly, Dot Estimation condenses the group's experience into a quick range. It turns individual contributions into a visible selection. The result is captured as an Effort Heatmap, Risk Signals, and Discussion Targets. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 30-90 min | 15-60 min | 5-20 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | 3-12 | 2-9 | 3-20 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Affinity Size Map, Grouped Estimates, Unclear Items | Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, Capacity Caveats | Effort Heatmap, Risk Signals, Discussion Targets |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | EstimationBacklogRelative sizing | EstimationEffortAgile | EstimationEffortRisk |