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Selected:C4 ModelFault IsolationArchitecture Inception CanvasARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
| Criterion |  Architecture C4 Model |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Architecture Architecture Inception Canvas |  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. | In technical failures, the visible symptom often gets mixed up with the actual cause. Fault Isolation narrows the fault space and progressively reduces which part of the system is truly affected. | The Architecture Inception Canvas bundles the first architecture questions into a compact decision picture. It fits when an initiative is still in motion but still needs clear guardrails. | 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 | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 30-180 min | 1-2 h | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional |
Participantsdifferent | 1-5 | 1-6 | 3-8 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Inception Canvas, Risks, Goal List, Open Questions | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | AlignmentArchitectureCanvas | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks |