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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Affinity DiagrammingQuality Attribute WorkshopEmpathy Mapping
| Criterion | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) | ![]() UX Research Affinity Diagramming | ![]() Architecture Quality Attribute Workshop | ![]() UX Research Empathy Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | When research notes, feedback, or observations sit unconnected side by side, affinity diagramming sorts the raw material into solid themes. Many individual points turn into patterns that make decisions and opportunities clearer. | A Quality Attribute Workshop translates quality requirements into concrete scenarios and architecture impulses. The method brings product, engineering, and operations to the same view of desired properties. | When a lot is assumed about a target group but little is seen jointly, empathy mapping makes knowledge and gaps directly comparable. The picture also shows which assumptions hold up and where evidence is missing. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 45–90 min | 2-4 h | 30–60 min |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 3-10 | 5-15 | 4-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas | Quality Scenarios, Priority List, Architecture Concerns | Empathy Map, Assumptions List, Research Gaps |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause | RequirementsArchitectureWorkshop | SynthesisQualitativeWorkshop |



