View methods side by side.
Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.
| Criterion |  Architecture C4 Model |  Architecture arc42 |  UX Research Surveys |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The C4 Model makes a system legible across several resolution levels, from context down to code. It suits situations where different audiences need to understand the same architecture from different altitudes. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. | When a topic needs to be validated broadly and many people can answer the same question, surveys gather structured feedback in a scalable form. Answers become comparable and segmentable instead of remaining merely anecdotal. | ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 1-2 Tage | 3-14 Tage | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional |
Participantsdifferent | 1-5 | 1-4 | 50+ | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Survey Results, Charts, Segment Insights | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | QuantitativeResearchValidation | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks |