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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Polarity Mapping |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Polarity Mapping makes tensions between two opposing poles tangible, such as standardization and adaptation or control and autonomy. The method guards against making apparent either-or decisions prematurely. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | 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. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 45-90 min | 45-120 min | 45-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 2-8 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Polarity Map, Warning Signs, Balance Actions | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking |
Tagsno overlap | Systems thinkingTradeoffsLeadership | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation |