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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
Views and Beyond method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Views and Beyond
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.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.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
HighMediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung1-3 Tage30 min Setup, dann laufend
Participantsdifferent
Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders3-20 Reviewer1-41-3 maintaining, briefing for everyone
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + asyncAsync
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 ticketsArchitecture Views, Cross-view Notes, RationaleRAID Log, Status Report Source
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance
DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture
RiskTrackingStakeholdersGovernance
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