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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 an IBIS map with issues, positions and arguments
Knowledge Modeling
IBIS
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
Paper illustration for Argument Mapping
Decision Making
Argument Mapping
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.IBIS structures thinking about complex questions as a sequence of issues, ideas, and arguments. The method keeps discussions open without forcing them into premature consensus.An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale.When statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumMediumMedium
Timedifferent
15-45 min1-3 h1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung1-3 h
Participantsdifferent
1-102-83-20 Reviewer1-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open QuestionsIssue Map, Positions, Argument NotesRFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or ticketsArgument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale
Tagsno overlap
BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation
RationaleKnowledgeDecision
ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance
SensemakingDecisionRationale
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