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Criterion
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Option Framing.
Decision Making
Option Framing
Views and Beyond method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Views and Beyond
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
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.In early decisions, alternatives are often still vague, incomplete, or blended together. Option Framing brings every possibility into a comparable form and makes visible which variant actually fits the question.Views and Beyond organizes architecture into several views so no single diagram has to do everything at once. This makes it possible to choose the representation that fits the stakeholder's question.When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable.
Complexitydifferent
HighMediumMediumMedium
Timedifferent
Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope45-120 min1-3 Tage1-2 h
Participantsdifferent
Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders3-81-44-12
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsOption Frames, Assumption Notes, Comparable Shortlist, Decision InputsArchitecture Views, Cross-view Notes, RationaleAlignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
OptionsDecision framingStrategyComparison
DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
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