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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Cynefin WorkshopIBISArchitecture Decision Record
| Criterion |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Decision Making Cynefin Workshop |  Knowledge Modeling IBIS |  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 problems are unclear, chaotic, or only seemingly familiar, standard recipes fall short. A Cynefin Workshop sorts situations by the nature of their problem and connects them with matching action logic. | IBIS structures thinking about complex questions as a sequence of issues, ideas, and arguments. The method keeps discussions open without forcing them into premature consensus. | 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 | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 60-180 min | 1-3 h | 15-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 4-20 | 2-8 | 1-3 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Cynefin Map, Domain-specific Actions, Sensemaking Notes | Issue Map, Positions, Argument Notes | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | ComplexitySensemakingDecision | RationaleKnowledgeDecision | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance |