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Selected:Architecture Decision Record Affinity Diagramming ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Empathy Mapping

Criterion	Architecture Architecture Decision Record	UX Research Affinity Diagramming	Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)	UX Research Empathy Mapping
Purposedifferent	An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable.	When research notes, feedback, or observations sit unconnected side by side, affinity diagramming sorts the raw material into solid themes. Many individual points turn into patterns that make decisions and opportunities clearer.	ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification.	When a lot is assumed about a target group but little is seen jointly, empathy mapping makes knowledge and gaps directly comparable. The picture also shows which assumptions hold up and where evidence is missing.
Complexitydifferent	Low	Low	Medium	Low
Timedifferent	15-45 min	45–90 min	2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional	30–60 min
Participantsdifferent	1-3	3-10	Designers, developers as users, and facilitation	4-8
Formatdifferent	Async	Workshop	Workshop + async	Workshop
Outputdifferent	ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale	Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas	Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions	Empathy Map, Assumptions List, Research Gaps
Tagsno overlap	ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance	SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause	ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks	SynthesisQualitativeWorkshop

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