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Selected:ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)Competency QuestionsFishbone DiagramFailure Mode and Effects Analysis
| Criterion | ![]() Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) | ![]() Knowledge Modeling Competency Questions | ![]() Operations Fishbone Diagram | ![]() 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. | Competency Questions translate a domain model into concrete questions that it must be able to answer. The method keeps the model's scope clean and prevents pretty but useless structures. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | 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 | 30-60 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 2-8 | 2-8 | 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 | Competency Question Set, Required Concepts, Test Queries, Coverage Matrix | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | OntologyKnowledge graphScopeRequirementsSemantic | Root causeQualityOperations | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |



