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| Criterion | ![]() Architecture arc42 | ![]() Decision Making Assumption Surfacing | ![]() Architecture C4 Model | ![]() Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | The C4 Model makes a system legible across several resolution levels, from context down to code. It suits situations where different audiences need to understand the same architecture from different altitudes. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-2 Tage | 45-90 min | 1-4 h | 45-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-4 | 2-8 | 1-5 | 2-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation |



