Judge under constraint
Decide what matters under the real constraints.
- 01Readthe situation
- 02Explainthe mechanism
- 03Examinethe evidence
- 04Judgeunder constraint
- 05Translateinto form
- 06Observewhat happens
- 07Transferwhat was learned
Evidence rarely specifies the design.
Someone still has to decide what matters under the constraints of the actual situation.
This is where design becomes judgement rather than compliance.
Methods
Four methods that help
Each is a card in Riffle, a library of design method cards I built. The card says when to use the method, how to run it and what you get.
Decision framing (opens Riffle in a new tab)
What exactly are we deciding, who decides, on what basis and what would we need to know first?
Under an hour · A small team
Trade-off sliders (opens Riffle in a new tab)
When something has to give on this project, which variable gives way first and which do we protect?
A few hours · A small team
Min specs (opens Riffle in a new tab)
Which few rules must everyone keep for this purpose to be achieved, and where is everyone free to choose?
A few hours · A group
Pre-mortem (opens Riffle in a new tab)
If this plan fails, what will most likely have caused it, and what can we do now to prevent it?
A few hours · A small team