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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Architecture arc42 |  Architecture Request for Comments |  Architecture C4 Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-2 Tage | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 1-4 | 3-20 Reviewer | 1-5 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization |