Templates lock you into to a platform, they don’t let you use multiple tools together. Instead they make you use lowest common denominator, often text some markup language like markdown for rich text.

Templates are not dynamic enough. Sure e.g. Notion and Coda might allow you do edit (remove, update or add new elements), but that isn’t guided by a methodology/template anymore.

So what Instrumentally tries to do differently is to make the method one layer above a specific app, but still designed to make you actually use the professional apps. To make use of the power.

You’re guided by a method map, but the map isn’t completely linear. Instead it is inspired by interaction design of professional tools and games.

We don’t want to limit users too much to a method, similar to CFAR’s principle “Adjust your seat”.

But it is still useful to have a name of a kind of method, to be able to recall using it. And so the possibility space can’t be too big either, some limits need to be there.

Templates are often not applicable since the world is complex and adaptive problems are often the ones worth working on.

We can have a template as a starting point for our own modeling, our own adventure into our world of trying to make a map of the territory.

• [ ] Add photos from Figma and Instrumentally

Instead of choosing blocks to add to your document in Notion, we choose professional tools to add to our modelling session.

It comes at a cost of collaboration, it’s harder to share the state of your computer, local links, etc. But more and more professional tools provide such services today, so you can just link to multiple professional apps and fix authentication for your collaborators when you need it.