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| Criterion |  Decision Making DACI |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Operations RACI Matrix |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In cross-functional decisions, responsibilities quickly blur between approval, influence, and execution. DACI arranges these roles so decision pressure, contribution, and information stay cleanly separated. | 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. | With unclear responsibilities across several roles or areas, the method creates unambiguous accountability logic. It reduces friction because decision, execution, contribution, and information become separately visible. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 45-90 min | 15-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-10 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 2-8 | 1-3 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | DACI Matrix, Decision Owner, Decision Log | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | RACI Matrix, Responsibility Map, Decision Notes | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | DecisionRolesGovernanceAlignment | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | RolesResponsibilityGovernanceOperations | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance |