# Framework

> A curated library of 100+ thinking frameworks for strategy, prioritization, and decision-making. Each entry includes a definition, when to use it, and a worked example. Hero entries also include a long-form guide.

## Frameworks

- [10/10/10 Rule](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/tententen): Implications in 10 min, 10 mo, 10 yr
- [12 Week Year](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/twelveweek): Treat each quarter as a year
- [5 Whys](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/fivewhys): Ask why five times
- [80/20 Life](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/eightytwentylife): Which 20% drives 80% of life joy?
- [A3 Problem Solving](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/a3): One-page Toyota problem report
- [AIDA](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/aida): Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
- [Ansoff Matrix](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/ansoff): Product × market growth options
- [Antifragility](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/antifragility): Some things gain from disorder
- [Balanced Scorecard](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/balancedscorecard): Financial, customer, internal, learning
- [BCG Matrix](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/bcg): Growth-share quadrants: stars, cows, dogs, question marks
- [BHAG](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/bhag): Big Hairy Audacious Goal
- [Black Swan Analysis](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/blackswan): Surface unknown-unknowns
- [Blue Ocean Strategy](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/blueocean): Eliminate, reduce, raise, create
- [BLUF](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/bluf): Bottom Line Up Front
- [Bowtie Analysis](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/bowtie): Causes → event → consequences
- [Build–Measure–Learn](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/bml): Lean Startup feedback loop
- [Business Model Canvas](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/bmc): Customers, value, channels, costs, revenue
- [Buy a Feature](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/buyfeature): Give users virtual money to spend
- [Chesterton's Fence](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/chesterton): Don't remove what you don't understand
- [Circle of Competence](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/circlecompetence): Know what you know — and don't
- [Compounding](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/compounding): Small returns multiply over time
- [Cost-Benefit](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/costbenefit): Monetize costs vs. benefits over time
- [Crazy Eights](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/crazyeights): 8 sketches in 8 minutes
- [Current Reality Tree](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/currentreality): Logical tree of undesirable effects
- [Customer Journey Map](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/journeymap): Stages × actions × thoughts × pains
- [Cynefin Framework](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/cynefin): Clear, complicated, complex, chaotic, confused
- [DACI](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/daci): Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed
- [Decision Matrix](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/decmatrix): Options scored across criteria
- [Decision Tree](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/tree): Branching outcomes and probabilities
- [Design Thinking](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/designthinking): Empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test
- [Designing Your Life](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/designingyourlife): Prototype 3 alternative life paths
- [Dichotomy of Control](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/dichotomy): What you control vs. what you don't
- [DMAIC](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/dmaic): Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control
- [Double Diamond](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/doublediamond): Discover · Define · Develop · Deliver
- [Eisenhower Matrix](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/eisenhower): Urgent vs. important, four quadrants
- [Empathy Map](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/empathymap): Says, thinks, feels, does
- [Energy Audit](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/energyaudit): Track energy gained vs. drained
- [Expected Value](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/expectedvalue): Σ probability × outcome
- [Fault Tree](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/faulttree): AND/OR logic of failure paths
- [First Principles](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/firstprinciples): Reduce to atomic truths, rebuild up
- [Fishbone Diagram](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/fishbone): Causes grouped under 6 Ms
- [Flywheel](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/flywheel): Self-reinforcing loop of growth
- [FMEA](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/fmea): Failure modes & effects analysis
- [GE-McKinsey Matrix](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/gemckinsey): Industry attractiveness × business strength
- [GROW Model](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/grow): Goal, Reality, Options, Will
- [Hanlon's Razor](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/hanlon): Don't attribute to malice what stupidity explains
- [Hooked Model](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/hooked): Trigger, action, reward, investment
- [How Might We](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/howmightwe): Reframe problems as opportunities
- [ICE Score](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/ice): Impact × Confidence × Ease
- [Ikigai](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/ikigai): Love, good at, world needs, paid for
- [Jobs to be Done](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/jtbd): Functional, social, emotional jobs
- [Kano Model](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/kano): Basic, performance, delight features
- [KPI Tree](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/kpi): Cascading north-star → input metrics
- [Lateral Thinking](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/lateralthinking): Provocations to break logic
- [Lean Canvas](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/lean): One-page business model
- [Margin of Safety](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/marginsafety): Build buffer for what you can't predict
- [Maslow's Hierarchy](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/maslow): Physical → safety → love → esteem → self-actualization
- [McKinsey 7S](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/mckinsey7s): Strategy, Structure, Systems, Skills, Staff, Style, Shared values
- [Mind Map](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/mindmap): Radial branching of associations
- [MoSCoW Method](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/moscow): Must, Should, Could, Won't
- [North Star Metric](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/northstar): One metric that captures the value
- [Occam's Razor](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/occam): Prefer the simplest explanation
- [OKR](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/okr): Objective + key results
- [OODA Loop](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/ooda): Observe, Orient, Decide, Act
- [Pareto Analysis](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/pareto): 80/20 vital few vs. trivial many
- [PDCA Cycle](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/pdca): Plan, Do, Check, Act
- [Personal Kanban](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/kanban): To do · Doing · Done with WIP limits
- [PESTEL Analysis](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/pestel): Political, Economic, Social, Tech, Environmental, Legal
- [Pirate Metrics (AARRR)](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/aarrr): Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue
- [Porter's Five Forces](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/fiveforces): Industry rivalry, suppliers, buyers, entrants, substitutes
- [Pre-mortem](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/premortem): Imagine the failure first
- [Pros / Cons](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/proscons): Two-column weighing
- [Pyramid Principle](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/pyramid): Answer, supporting points, evidence
- [Regret Minimization](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/regretmin): Choose what you'd regret least at 80
- [Reverse Brainstorming](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/reversebrain): How could we cause the problem?
- [RICE](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/rice): Reach × Impact × Confidence ÷ Effort
- [Risk Matrix](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/riskmatrix): Probability × impact
- [Risk Register](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/riskregister): Logged risks with owner and status
- [SCAMPER](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/scamper): Substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to other use, eliminate, reverse
- [Scenario Planning](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/scenario): Plan across 4 plausible futures
- [Six Thinking Hats](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/sixhats): Facts, feelings, risks, benefits, creativity, process
- [SMART Goals](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/smart): Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound
- [STAR Method](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/star): Situation, Task, Action, Result
- [Story Mapping](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/storymap): User journey backbone with slices
- [STP Marketing](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/stp): Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning
- [Strategy Diamond](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/diamond): Arenas, vehicles, differentiators, staging, economic logic
- [Stress Testing](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/stresstest): Push assumptions to breaking point
- [SWOT Analysis](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/swot): Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
- [T-Shirt Sizing](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/tshirt): XS, S, M, L, XL relative size
- [Three Horizons](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/threehorizons): Today's core, emerging, long-term bets
- [TRIZ](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/triz): 40 inventive principles for contradictions
- [Value Chain](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/valuechain): Primary and support activities
- [Value Proposition Canvas](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/vpc): Customer jobs, pains, gains × your offer
- [Value vs Effort](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/valueeffort): Quick wins, big bets, fillers, time sinks
- [Values Clarification](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/values): Identify core personal values
- [VRIO Framework](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/vrio): Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, Organized
- [Wardley Mapping](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/wardley): Position components on evolution axis
- [Weighted Decision Matrix](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/weightedmatrix): Decision matrix with criterion weights
- [Wheel of Life](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/wheeloflife): Score 8 areas of life on 1–10
- [WSJF](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/wsjf): Cost of delay ÷ job size

## Browse by category

- [Strategy](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/strategy)
- [Prioritization](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/prioritization)
- [Decision](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/decision)
- [Risk](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/risk)
- [Innovation](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/innovation)
- [Business](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/business)
- [Goals](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/goals)
- [Life](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/life)
- [Root Cause](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/root-cause)
- [Mental Models](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/mental-model)
- [Communication](https://frameworklist.com/frameworks/communication)

## Free interactive tools

> Browser-based worksheets that fill in a framework without sign-up. Free to use; sign up for AI refinement + cross-device sync.

- [SWOT Analysis worksheet](https://frameworklist.com/tools/swot)
- [Eisenhower Matrix worksheet](https://frameworklist.com/tools/eisenhower-matrix)
- [Pros and Cons worksheet](https://frameworklist.com/tools/pros-and-cons)
- [Premortem worksheet](https://frameworklist.com/tools/premortem)
- [5 Whys worksheet](https://frameworklist.com/tools/5-whys)

## Academy

- [The Eisenhower Matrix: urgent vs important, explained](https://frameworklist.com/academy/eisenhower-matrix-urgent-vs-important): Sort what's on your plate by urgency and importance, then act differently on each quadrant. A working guide to the matrix that fixes reactive weeks.
- [First Principles thinking, with examples](https://frameworklist.com/academy/first-principles-thinking-with-examples): First principles thinking means reasoning from what's verifiably true, not from analogy. It's expensive to apply but produces ideas analogical thinking can't reach. Here's how it actually works.
- [How to run a premortem (and why every team should)](https://frameworklist.com/academy/how-to-run-a-premortem): A premortem assumes the project failed, then asks what went wrong. It's the cheapest pre-launch risk audit you'll ever run. Here's how to run one well.
- [The Jobs-to-be-Done framework, explained](https://frameworklist.com/academy/jobs-to-be-done-framework-explained): JTBD says people don't buy products — they hire them to do a job. Reframing what you sell as 'a job customers hire it for' changes which features matter, which competitors you really have, and which markets are open.
- [OKRs vs KPIs: what's the difference?](https://frameworklist.com/academy/okrs-vs-kpis-difference): OKRs set ambitious direction; KPIs track ongoing health. Teams that confuse the two end up measuring what they shouldn't and ignoring what they should. Here's how to keep them separate.
- [Pareto Analysis: the 80/20 principle, applied](https://frameworklist.com/academy/pareto-analysis-80-20-principle): Roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes. Pareto Analysis is the discipline of finding which 20% — and then doing something different with it.
- [Porter's Five Forces: a beginner's guide](https://frameworklist.com/academy/porters-five-forces-beginners-guide): Five forces decide whether a market is worth competing in. Read them right and you avoid markets that look attractive but aren't. Here's how to actually run the analysis.
- [Reverse brainstorming: solve problems backwards](https://frameworklist.com/academy/reverse-brainstorming-solve-problems-backwards): Stuck on a problem? Instead of asking how to solve it, ask how to cause it. Reverse brainstorming surfaces the obstacles your regular thinking refuses to see.
- [The RICE framework for prioritization](https://frameworklist.com/academy/rice-prioritization-framework): RICE scores ideas by Reach × Impact × Confidence ÷ Effort, turning subjective debate into a defensible ranked list. Here's how to use it without faking the numbers.
- [RICE score calculator: the formula, explained with 3 worked examples](https://frameworklist.com/academy/rice-score-calculator-with-examples): How to actually compute a RICE score — the formula, the 5-point Impact scale, the 50/80/100% Confidence rule, and three full worked examples with real numbers.
- [What is a SWOT analysis?](https://frameworklist.com/academy/what-is-a-swot-analysis): SWOT is a 2×2 grid that surfaces a position's internal strengths and weaknesses alongside external opportunities and threats. Here is how to run one in 5 steps.

## Blog

- [The framework I use to pick a framework](https://frameworklist.com/blog/framework-to-pick-a-framework): There are 100+ thinking frameworks in the library. Three questions get you to the right one in under two minutes, every time.
- [How Netflix used SWOT before the streaming pivot — a closer look](https://frameworklist.com/blog/how-netflix-used-swot-2007): Before Reed Hastings bet the company on streaming in 2007, the leadership team ran a SWOT that named the threat almost everyone else missed. A look at what they put in each quadrant, and why most teams do the exercise wrong.
- [Welcome to the FrameworkList blog](https://frameworklist.com/blog/welcome-to-the-blog): Why we are starting a blog about thinking frameworks, and what to expect.
- [Why most frameworks fail (and how to use them anyway)](https://frameworklist.com/blog/why-most-frameworks-fail): A framework is a structured prompt for a conversation, not a machine that produces answers. Treat it as the second and it will disappoint you reliably.

## Help center

- [Requesting account deletion](https://frameworklist.com/help/account/requesting-account-deletion): Email support to delete your account and all associated data. Permanent and unrecoverable.
- [Sign-in methods: Google, Apple, and email magic link](https://frameworklist.com/help/account/sign-in-methods): We support three sign-in methods, all passwordless. Here's how each works.
- [Updating your profile and avatar](https://frameworklist.com/help/account/updating-your-profile): Display name and avatar are editable. Email and sign-in method are not — they're tied to your auth provider.
- [Canceling your subscription](https://frameworklist.com/help/billing/canceling-your-subscription): Cancel anytime. You keep access through the end of the period you already paid for.
- [Managing your subscription](https://frameworklist.com/help/billing/managing-your-subscription): Where to upgrade, downgrade, change payment, or cancel — depends on whether you subscribed via web or iOS.
- [I subscribed on iOS — can I use the web app?](https://frameworklist.com/help/billing/subscribed-on-ios): Yes. Same account = same subscription. Here's what to expect.
- [Choosing the right framework](https://frameworklist.com/help/getting-started/choosing-the-right-framework): 100+ frameworks is a lot. Three questions get you to the right one fast.
- [Creating your first canvas](https://frameworklist.com/help/getting-started/creating-your-first-canvas): A canvas is one framework filled in with your own thinking. Here's the 5-minute path to your first one.
- [What is FrameworkList?](https://frameworklist.com/help/getting-started/what-is-frameworklist): FrameworkList is a curated library of 100+ thinking frameworks with AI-assisted canvases and strategy briefs, available on web and iOS.
- [The iOS app: what's the same, what's different](https://frameworklist.com/help/ios-app/ios-vs-web-differences): Both apps share an account and a backend, but each has features the other doesn't. Here's the breakdown.
- [How we handle your data](https://frameworklist.com/help/privacy/how-we-handle-your-data): What we store, where, who can see it, and how to get it deleted. Short version: your canvases are private by default; we don't sell anything to anyone.
- [How AI credits work](https://frameworklist.com/help/web-app/ai-credits-explained): What a credit is, what consumes one, and how the monthly allotment resets.
- [Exporting a brief as PDF](https://frameworklist.com/help/web-app/exporting-a-brief-as-pdf): Every brief has a PDF export. Free tools too. Here's how to use both.
- [Generating a strategy brief from a canvas](https://frameworklist.com/help/web-app/generating-a-strategy-brief): Turn a filled-in canvas into a one-page strategy brief you can share. Premium feature.
- [Searching and organizing your library](https://frameworklist.com/help/web-app/searching-and-organizing-the-library): Finding past canvases and briefs as your library grows.

## Examples

- [Eisenhower Matrix applied to an engineering manager's week](https://frameworklist.com/examples/eisenhower-engineering-manager-week): A worked example: 18 things on an EM's plate, sorted by urgency × importance, with the actions that follow each quadrant.
- [Porter's Five Forces applied to the US airline industry](https://frameworklist.com/examples/five-forces-airline-industry): Why airlines have been a structurally bad business for decades — the analysis Buffett famously got wrong twice. A worked Five Forces.
- [JTBD analysis: what job is Instagram Stories hired to do?](https://frameworklist.com/examples/jtbd-instagram-stories): Instagram Stories grew to 500M daily users in three years. JTBD analysis explains why — it wasn't competing with feed posts. It was competing with sleep.
- [OKR examples from Google's early years](https://frameworklist.com/examples/okr-google-classic-objective): Andy Grove brought OKRs to Intel; John Doerr brought them to Google in 1999. A look at the OKRs that shaped Google's culture and what they teach about writing your own.
- [Premortem on a product launch that almost shipped broken](https://frameworklist.com/examples/premortem-product-launch): A 45-minute premortem before a major SaaS launch surfaced 3 risks the team hadn't named. Two became the actual reasons the launch needed a 2-week delay.
- [RICE prioritization on a real SaaS team's Q3 backlog](https://frameworklist.com/examples/rice-saas-q3-backlog): 12 candidate features, scored honestly, ranked by RICE. The surprising losers and one feature the team almost killed that scored at the top.
- [SWOT analysis of Tesla in 2024](https://frameworklist.com/examples/swot-tesla-2024): A worked SWOT covering Tesla's position heading into 2024 — the EV manufacturing lead, the Cybertruck rollout, China headwinds, and Robotaxi vapor.

## Compare

- [Jobs-to-be-Done vs Customer Personas](https://frameworklist.com/compare/jtbd-vs-personas): Personas describe who the customer is. JTBD describes what the customer is trying to accomplish. The difference shapes which features you build.
- [Lean Canvas vs Business Model Canvas](https://frameworklist.com/compare/lean-canvas-vs-business-model-canvas): Lean Canvas was Ash Maurya's adaptation of Alex Osterwalder's Business Model Canvas, specifically for startups. The differences look small but determine which tool fits which stage of company.
- [Premortem vs postmortem: opposite directions, complementary tools](https://frameworklist.com/compare/premortem-vs-postmortem): A premortem imagines failure before it happens. A postmortem investigates failure after. Same psychological technique (working backwards from failure), different timing — and different teams use them for different reasons.
- [RICE vs ICE: which prioritization framework to use](https://frameworklist.com/compare/rice-vs-ice): RICE adds a Reach term that ICE leaves out. That single difference makes RICE better for teams with quantifiable user data — and ICE better for early-stage decisions where Reach is unknowable.
- [SWOT vs Porter's Five Forces](https://frameworklist.com/compare/swot-vs-five-forces): SWOT analyzes a specific position. Five Forces analyzes the industry that position sits inside. Confusing them produces strategy decisions that don't survive contact with the market.
- [SWOT vs PESTLE: which one to use when](https://frameworklist.com/compare/swot-vs-pestle): SWOT is a position assessment. PESTLE is a macro-environment scan. They're not substitutes — they answer different questions and often get used together.

## Glossary

- [Activation](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/activation): The point a new user has experienced enough of the product's core value that they're likely to return — usually defined by a specific in-product behavior.
- [Blue Ocean](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/blue-ocean): A market space where competition is irrelevant because the offering is uncontested — created by either redefining an industry's value proposition or by entering an entirely new market segment.
- [CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/cac): The total sales and marketing spend required to acquire one new paying customer, averaged across a period.
- [Churn](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/churn): The rate at which customers stop using or paying for a product over a given period. Usually expressed as a monthly or annual percentage.
- [Flywheel](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/flywheel): A self-reinforcing business mechanic where each part of the system makes the next part stronger — producing compounding rather than linear growth.
- [LTV (Lifetime Value)](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/ltv): The total gross profit a business expects from a single customer over the entire duration of their relationship.
- [Moat](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/moat): A sustainable competitive advantage that protects a business from competitors — analogous to a castle moat. Warren Buffett popularized the term in investing; the same concept applies to product strategy.
- [MVP (Minimum Viable Product)](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/mvp): The smallest version of a product that can be shipped to real users to test a critical hypothesis — not a polished early version of the final product, but a learning instrument.
- [North Star Metric](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/north-star-metric): The single metric that best captures the core value a product delivers to its customers — the one number every team can rally around.
- [Product-Market Fit](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/product-market-fit): The state where a product satisfies strong market demand — typically signaled by usage growing without forced acquisition and customers being upset if the product disappeared.
- [Unit Economics](https://frameworklist.com/glossary/unit-economics): The revenue and cost associated with a single 'unit' of a business — typically one customer or one transaction. The fundamental test of whether a business model can ever be profitable.