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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Architecture Decision RecordViews and BeyondATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
| Criterion | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) | ![]() Architecture Architecture Decision Record | ![]() Architecture Views and Beyond | ![]() Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | 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. | Views and Beyond organizes architecture into several views so no single diagram has to do everything at once. This makes it possible to choose the representation that fits the stakeholder's question. | 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 | Medium | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 15-45 min | 1-3 Tage | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 1-3 | 1-4 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Architecture Views, Cross-view Notes, Rationale | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations |
Tags1 shared | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders |



