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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
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Quality Attribute Workshop workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Architecture
Quality Attribute Workshop
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 work processes are known only from accounts and the real context stays hidden, Contextual Inquiry makes behavior at the workplace visible. Observation and follow-up questions together show how people actually work, get interrupted, and improvise.A Quality Attribute Workshop translates quality requirements into concrete scenarios and architecture impulses. The method brings product, engineering, and operations to the same view of desired properties.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumMedium
Timedifferent
15-45 min1-3 Wochen2-4 h
Participantsdifferent
1-34-12 Beobachtungen5-15
Formatdifferent
AsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
ADR File, Decision Log, RationaleField Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsQuality Scenarios, Priority List, Architecture Concerns
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
UX researchObservationContext
RequirementsArchitectureWorkshop
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

A paper-based illustration representing Context Canvas with its core stages and visible working result.
Product Discovery
Context Canvas
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
Paper illustration for Risk Storming.
Architecture
Risk Storming