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Criterion
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Process Mapping method illustration showing its working structure
Operations
Process Mapping
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of a review with planned work, actual event sequence, comparison, and assigned improvement actions.
Operations
After-Action Review
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.With a confusing workflow that has many handoffs, the method makes the actual process visible. It shows where work is passed on, delayed, or duplicated, so improvement targets the right spots.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumHighLow
Timedifferent
2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional1-3 hSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope20-45 min
Participantsdifferent
Designers, developers as users, and facilitation3-10Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders3-12
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsProcess Map, Handoff List, Improvement BacklogPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsLessons learned, Action items, Event summary
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
ProcessOperationsImprovement
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
LearningOperationsImprovement
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