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| Criterion |  Facilitation Consensus Workshop |  Decision Making Risk Matrix |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Facilitation Dot Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a group needs a solid decision without outvoting individual factions, a Consensus Workshop creates a negotiable common ground. It makes agreement, reservations, and open tensions discussable at the same time. | When a project faces many possible disruptions, it quickly becomes unclear which risks deserve attention first. It separates options, evaluation criteria, and open risks. The result is captured as a Risk Matrix and a Top Risk List. | ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation. | When a workshop has produced too many options and the group needs to condense quickly, dot voting makes preferences visible in a short time. It bundles individual votes into a solid signal for the next selection. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 30-60 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 5-15 min |
Participantsdifferent | 5-30 | 3-10 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 3-20 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Consensus Clusters, Theme Titles, Priority Areas | Risk Matrix, Top Risk List | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Ranked list, Consensus signal, Shortlist |
Tagsno overlap | FacilitationConsensusWorkshopAlignment | RiskDecisionPrioritizationAssessment | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | FacilitationVotingConsensusPrioritization |