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| Criterion |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Architecture Quality Attribute Workshop |  Product Discovery Context Canvas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When an environment of users, systems, and constraints is hard to grasp, it puts the context compactly on the table. It creates a clear reading of influence, boundary, and dependency. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 1-3 Wochen | 2-4 h | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-3 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 5-15 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Quality Scenarios, Priority List, Architecture Concerns | Context canvas, Open questions, Shared context notes |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | UX researchObservationContext | RequirementsArchitectureWorkshop | ContextFramingRequirementsCanvas |