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Criterion
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Paper illustration of an activity-role table with clear RACI assignments and one highlighted accountable role per activity.
Operations
RACI Matrix
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.With unclear responsibilities across several roles or areas, the method creates unambiguous accountability logic. It reduces friction because decision, execution, contribution, and information become separately visible.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumLow
Timedifferent
15-45 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
1-3Designers, developers as users, and facilitation2-8
Formatdifferent
AsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
ADR File, Decision Log, RationalePrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsRACI Matrix, Responsibility Map, Decision Notes
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
RolesResponsibilityGovernanceOperations
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of Decision Rights Mapping with its method-specific working model.
Decision Making
Decision Rights Mapping
Paper illustration for Golden Path
Engineering
Golden Path