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Criterion
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Three Amigos method illustration showing its working structure
Agile
Three Amigos
A 5 Whys working surface connects an observable problem with evidenced causes, marked uncertainty and concrete countermeasures with ownership.
Operations
5 Whys
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.When story, test, and implementation could drift apart, it brings business perspective, engineering, and quality together early. It prevents a story from being read differently only late in the process.For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description.
Complexitydifferent
HighLowLow
Timedifferent
Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope15-30 min15-30 min
Participantsdifferent
Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders32-6
Formatdifferent
Workshop + 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 investigationsClarified Story, Test Examples, Open QuestionsRoot cause notes, Countermeasures
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
CollaborationBehavior-Driven DevelopmentQualityRefinement
Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

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 for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving
Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis