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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Option FramingTOWS MatrixSAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
| Criterion |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Decision Making Option Framing |  Business Strategy TOWS Matrix |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | In early decisions, alternatives are often still vague, incomplete, or blended together. Option Framing brings every possibility into a comparable form and makes visible which variant actually fits the question. | The TOWS Matrix connects internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats into action-oriented strategies. It goes a step further than a pure stocktaking. | SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 45-120 min | 1-2 h | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 3-8 | 3-10 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Option Frames, Assumption Notes, Comparable Shortlist, Decision Inputs | TOWS Matrix, Strategic Options, Priority Actions | Domain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternatives |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | OptionsDecision framingStrategyComparison | StrategyAnalysisOptions | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality |