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| Criterion | ![]() Decision Making Trade-off Analysis | ![]() Systems Thinking CATWOE Analysis | ![]() Decision Making Argument Mapping | ![]() Decision Making Constraint Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | CATWOE structures a problem from six viewpoints and prevents too narrow a view of the situation. Different experiences of the system become comparably discussable this way. | 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. | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-120 min | 45-90 min | 1-3 h | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-8 | 1-8 | 2-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | CATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints | Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries |
Tagsno overlap | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders | SensemakingDecisionRationale | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions |



