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Selected:Architecture Decision RecordGolden PathRiskiest Assumption TestARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
| Criterion |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Engineering Golden Path |  Product Discovery Riskiest Assumption Test |  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 an idea hinges on one critical unknown, it prioritizes testing that exact piece of uncertainty first. It separates problem, assumption, solution, and evidence. The result is captured as a prioritized list of assumptions, a test plan, and a result report. | 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 | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 1-3 Tage Setup, laufend | 1-2 Wochen pro Iteration | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional |
Participantsdifferent | 1-3 | 2-8 | 2-6 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Golden Path Guide, Templates, Quality Checks | Prioritized Assumption List, Test Plan, Results Report | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | EngineeringProductivityGovernance | ExperimentsValidationDiscoveryAssumptions | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks |