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| Criterion |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning. | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | High |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Domain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternatives | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality |
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