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Selected:ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Affinity DiagrammingFailure Mode and Effects Analysis
| Criterion |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  UX Research Affinity Diagramming |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | When research notes, feedback, or observations sit unconnected side by side, affinity diagramming sorts the raw material into solid themes. Many individual points turn into patterns that make decisions and opportunities clearer. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 45–90 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 3-10 | 3-10 |
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 | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Theme clusters, Insight statements, Opportunity areas | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | SynthesisQualitativeRoot cause | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |