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Criterion
Paper mind map with a central course onboarding question, colored main branches, keywords and cross-links.
Facilitation
Mind Mapping
Paper illustration of shared options, independently placed voting dots, and a highlighted shortlist.
Facilitation
Dot Voting
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
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 a workshop has produced too many options and the group needs to condense quickly, dot voting makes preferences visible in a short time. It bundles individual votes into a solid signal for the next selection.With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects.
Complexitydifferent
LowLowMedium
Timedifferent
15-45 min5-15 min45-120 min
Participantsdifferent
1-103-202-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open QuestionsRanked list, Consensus signal, ShortlistTrade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides
Tagsno overlap
BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation
FacilitationVotingConsensusPrioritization
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of a decision table with criteria rows, weighted ratings, and a narrowly leading alternative.
Decision Making
Decision Matrix
Independent contributions form an ordered group priority list.
Facilitation
Nominal Group Technique
Paper matrix with six colored hat cards for information, feeling, value, caution, ideas and process control.
Facilitation
Six Thinking Hats
Paper illustration of several people silently writing ideas and passing sheets around with arrows.
Innovation
Brainwriting