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Criterion
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of RAID Log with a method-specific labelled workspace.
Delivery
RAID Log
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off 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.Helps clarify scope, sequence, and delivery flow in concrete terms. It makes work, boundaries, and order steerable. The result is captured as a RAID Log and a source for status reporting.With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects.
Complexitydifferent
HighLowMedium
Timedifferent
Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope30 min Setup, dann laufend45-120 min
Participantsdifferent
Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders1-3 maintaining, briefing for everyone2-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsRAID Log, Status Report SourceTrade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
RiskTrackingStakeholdersGovernance
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
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Paper illustration of a decision table with criteria rows, weighted ratings, and a narrowly leading alternative.
Decision Making
Decision Matrix
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)
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
Architecture Communication Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Architecture Communication Canvas