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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Argument MappingSoftware Architecture CanvasArchitecture Decision Record
| Criterion | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) | ![]() Decision Making Argument Mapping | ![]() Architecture Software Architecture Canvas | ![]() Architecture Architecture Decision Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on. | The Software Architecture Canvas reduces a system to the most important architecture decisions, constraints, and interfaces. It is useful when teams need a resilient overall picture quickly. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 1-3 h | 1-2 h | 15-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 1-8 | 3-10 | 1-3 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale | Architecture Canvas, Goals, Constraints, Quality Attributes | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | SensemakingDecisionRationale | CanvasArchitectureAlignmentWorkshop | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance |



