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| Criterion |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Architecture C4 Model |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | The C4 Model makes a system legible across several resolution levels, from context down to code. It suits situations where different audiences need to understand the same architecture from different altitudes. | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 30-90 min | 1-4 h | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 1-6 | 1-5 | 2-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | DecisionTreeOptions | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions |