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| Criterion |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Architecture Request for Comments |  Growth A/B Testing |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale. | When two variants compete, discussions quickly decide by taste rather than effect. A/B Testing checks behavior under controlled conditions and separates real improvement from chance or expectation effects. | When demand only needs to be roughly verified, it tests interest with minimal effort. It measures whether people would take a next step at all. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | 1-4 Wochen | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 1-3 | 3-20 Reviewer | 1-6 | Nutzertraffic |
Formatsame | Async | Async | Async | Async |
Outputdifferent | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Experiment results, Decision log, Learning summary | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | ExperimentsGrowthAnalyticsValidation | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth |