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| Criterion |  Architecture C4 Model |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Growth A/B Testing |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | When two variants compete, discussions quickly decide by taste rather than effect. A/B Testing checks behavior under controlled conditions and separates real improvement from chance or expectation effects. | When demand only needs to be roughly verified, it tests interest with minimal effort. It measures whether people would take a next step at all. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 1-4 Wochen | 1-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 1-5 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 1-6 | Nutzertraffic |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Experiment results, Decision log, Learning summary | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | ExperimentsGrowthAnalyticsValidation | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth |