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Selected:Architecture Decision Record ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)C4 Model Golden Path

Criterion	Architecture Architecture Decision Record	Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)	Architecture C4 Model	Engineering Golden Path
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.	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.	The C4 Model makes a system legible across several resolution levels, from context down to code. It suits situations where different audiences need to understand the same architecture from different altitudes.	When teams need a reliable default path for frequent use, sprawl quickly emerges without any guiding logic. Golden Path bundles the preferred path so good practice becomes easy and deviation becomes deliberate.
Complexitydifferent	Low	Medium	Low	Medium
Timedifferent	15-45 min	2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional	1-4 h	1-3 Tage Setup, laufend
Participantsdifferent	1-3	Designers, developers as users, and facilitation	1-5	2-8
Formatdifferent	Async	Workshop + async	Workshop + async	Workshop + async
Outputdifferent	ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale	Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions	Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram	Golden Path Guide, Templates, Quality Checks
Tagsno overlap	ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance	ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks	ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization	EngineeringProductivityGovernance

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