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Criterion
Value Stream Mapping workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Delivery
Value Stream Mapping
Paper illustration for Ideal Days.
Agile
Ideal Days
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Paper illustration for Dot Estimation.
Facilitation
Dot Estimation
Purposedifferent
When delivery work dissolves into wait times, handoffs, and hidden effort, Value Stream Mapping makes the actual flow visible. The method exposes bottlenecks, idle time, and feedback loops so lead time and improvement levers become tangible.When effort needs to be thought of as real working time, it offers a simple common denominator for comparison. It sorts work by value, risk, and delivery ability. The result is captured as Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, and Capacity Caveats.LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail.When size or effort can only be estimated roughly, Dot Estimation condenses the group's experience into a quick range. It turns individual contributions into a visible selection. The result is captured as an Effort Heatmap, Risk Signals, and Discussion Targets.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowMediumLow
Timedifferent
1-3 h15-60 min3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional5-20 min
Participantsdifferent
4-102-91 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people3-20
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Current-state map, Future-state map, Bottleneck listIdeal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, Capacity CaveatsLean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checksEffort Heatmap, Risk Signals, Discussion Targets
Tagsno overlap
LeanFlowWasteDelivery
EstimationEffortAgile
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
EstimationEffortRisk
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