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Criterion
Paper illustration for Affinity Estimation.
Agile
Affinity Estimation
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Paper illustration for Ideal Days.
Agile
Ideal Days
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Purposedifferent
When many tasks need to be classified quickly, it sorts them by perceived effort and similarity. It reduces the effort of fine-grained estimation for large volumes.LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail.When effort needs to be thought of as real working time, it offers a simple common denominator for comparison. It sorts work by value, risk, and delivery ability. The result is captured as Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, and Capacity Caveats.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumLowHigh
Timedifferent
30-90 min3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional15-60 minSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope
Participantsdifferent
3-121 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people2-9Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Affinity Size Map, Grouped Estimates, Unclear ItemsLean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checksIdeal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, Capacity CaveatsPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations
Tagsno overlap
EstimationBacklogRelative sizing
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
EstimationEffortAgile
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
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