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| Criterion |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Architecture arc42 |  Agile Bucket System |  Agile Affinity Estimation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | 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. | When a large batch of work needs a fast, rough estimate, it sorts items into predefined size buckets. It sorts work by value, risk, and delivery ability. The result is captured as a Bucketed Backlog, Relative Estimates, and Split Candidates. | When many tasks need to be classified quickly, it sorts them by perceived effort and similarity. It reduces the effort of fine-grained estimation for large volumes. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 1-2 Tage | 30-90 min | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 1-4 | 3-12 | 3-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Bucketed Backlog, Relative Estimates, Split Candidates | Affinity Size Map, Grouped Estimates, Unclear Items |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | EstimationBacklogRelative sizing | EstimationBacklogRelative sizing |