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Criterion
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
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.LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail.
Complexitydifferent
HighMediumMedium
Timedifferent
Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional
Participantsdifferent
Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholdersDesigners, developers as users, and facilitation1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people
Formatsame
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsLean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checks
Tags1 shared
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for Risk Storming.
Architecture
Risk Storming
Architecture Communication Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Architecture Communication Canvas
Paper illustration of a calm four-quadrant Assumption Map with hypothesis cards and emphasis on important assumptions with little evidence.
Product Discovery
Assumption Mapping
Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis