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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Decision JamConsensus WorkshopSoftware Architecture Canvas
| Criterion | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) | ![]() Facilitation Decision Jam | ![]() Facilitation Consensus Workshop | ![]() Architecture Software Architecture Canvas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 a decision is stuck, Decision Jam loosens the knot through structured separation of problem, idea, and selection. The format creates movement without jumping prematurely at the first seemingly elegant answer. | When a group needs a solid decision without outvoting individual factions, a Consensus Workshop creates a negotiable common ground. It makes agreement, reservations, and open tensions discussable at the same time. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 60-90 min | 1-3 h | 1-2 h |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 4-10 | 5-30 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Problem Cluster, Prioritized Challenge, Experiment | Consensus Clusters, Theme Titles, Priority Areas | Architecture Canvas, Goals, Constraints, Quality Attributes |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | FacilitationDecisionProblem solvingWorkshop | FacilitationConsensusWorkshopAlignment | CanvasArchitectureAlignmentWorkshop |



