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| Criterion |  Architecture C4 Model |  Business Strategy 5-Minuten VC-Check |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Architecture arc42 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | The 5-Minute VC Check clarifies opportunities and strategic options at the earliest idea stage. It compares problem quality, customer willingness to pay, alternatives, differentiation, and market potential, and captures the result as a VC-check note, go/sharpen/park decision, and risk list. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-4 h | 5-15 min | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 1-2 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 1-5 | 1-5 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 1-4 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | VC-check note, Go/sharpen/park decision, Risk and assumption list, Next validation step | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | StartupValidationCompetition | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication |