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Selected:ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Request for CommentsDecision TreeArchitecture Decision Record
| Criterion |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Architecture Request for Comments |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale. | 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. | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | 30-90 min | 15-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 3-20 Reviewer | 1-6 | 1-3 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | DecisionTreeOptions | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance |