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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 Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration of RAID Log with a method-specific labelled workspace.
Delivery
RAID Log
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.An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale.In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.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.
Complexitydifferent
HighMediumLowLow
Timedifferent
Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung20–45 min30 min Setup, dann laufend
Participantsdifferent
Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders3-20 ReviewerSmall cross-functional group1-3 maintaining, briefing for everyone
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncAsyncWorkshopAsync
Outputdifferent
Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsRFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or ticketsRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logRAID Log, Status Report Source
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
RiskTrackingStakeholdersGovernance
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