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Selected:Architecture Decision RecordValue Chain AnalysisARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)arc42
| Criterion |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Business Strategy Value Chain Analysis |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Architecture arc42 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | Value Chain Analysis shows where value is created, costs accrue, and differentiation becomes possible along the process. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a value-chain map and lever list. | 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. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | Half day | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 1-2 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 1-3 | 3-8 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 1-4 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Value Chain Map, Lever List | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | StrategyBusiness modelDiagnosisAnalysis | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication |