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Criterion
Paper illustration of Starbursting with its method-specific working model.
Innovation
Starbursting
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
A paper-based illustration representing Brainstorming with its core stages and visible working result.
Innovation
Brainstorming
Purposedifferent
Helps clarify ideas, open questions, and testable next steps in concrete terms. It opens the thinking space, collects ideas, and leads to testable options. The result is captured as a star-shaped question map, question list, and assumption list.ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification.When a team faces an open question with many obvious directions, the method first creates breadth instead of premature commitment. It separates idea flow from evaluation and makes lines of thought visible, creating a pool for selection and further development.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumLow
Timedifferent
30-60 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
3-10Designers, developers as users, and facilitation4-12
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Star-Shaped Question Map, Question List, Assumption ListPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsIdea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist
Tagsno overlap
BrainstormingIdeationWorkshopDiscovery
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of the Lotus Blossom working structure.
Innovation
Lotus Blossom
Paper illustration of Design Charrette with its method-specific working model.
Innovation
Design Charrette
Paper illustration of Rapid Ideation with its method-specific working model.
Innovation
Rapid Ideation
Paper illustration for Reverse Brainstorming
Innovation
Reverse Brainstorming