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| Criterion |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Architecture Views and Beyond |  Architecture Request for Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When content only makes sense internally and users can't find the structure again, card sorting exposes their mental order. Terms, groups, and naming are then aligned with the target group's expectations. | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. | Views and Beyond organizes architecture into several views so no single diagram has to do everything at once. This makes it possible to choose the representation that fits the stakeholder's question. | An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 15-45 min | 1-3 Tage | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung |
Participantsdifferent | Based on research question | 1-3 | 1-4 | 3-20 Reviewer |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Architecture Views, Cross-view Notes, Rationale | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets |
Tagsno overlap | Information architectureNavigationStructure | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance |