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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 Golden Path
Engineering
Golden Path
Paper illustration of a calm four-quadrant Assumption Map with hypothesis cards and emphasis on important assumptions with little evidence.
Product Discovery
Assumption Mapping
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
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 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.When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first.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.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumMediumMedium
Timedifferent
15-45 min1-3 Tage Setup, laufend45-60 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional
Participantsdifferent
1-32-82-8Designers, developers as users, and facilitation
Formatdifferent
AsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
ADR File, Decision Log, RationaleGolden Path Guide, Templates, Quality ChecksAssumption map, Test backlog, Risk rankingPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
EngineeringProductivityGovernance
AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
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