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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Reverse BrainstormingATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)Brainstorming
| Criterion | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) | ![]() Innovation Reverse Brainstorming | ![]() Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) | ![]() Innovation Brainstorming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 persistent errors or blockages, the method shifts the view to the opposite of the desired effect. It exposes the mechanics of failure and makes hidden causes easier to grasp. This makes improvement more concrete and the problem clearer. | 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. | When a team faces an open question with many obvious directions, the method first creates breadth instead of premature commitment. It separates idea flow from evaluation and makes lines of thought visible, creating a pool for selection and further development. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 30-60 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 3-12 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Reverse Ideas, Risk Themes, Solution Ideas | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Idea pool, Theme clusters, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityRisk | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | BrainstormingIdeationCreativityWorkshopDivergence |



