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Criterion
Paper illustration for Decision Framing Workshop.
Decision Making
Decision Framing Workshop
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Option Framing.
Decision Making
Option Framing
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Purposedifferent
When a decision is poorly framed, even good answers deliver little value. A Decision Framing Workshop sharpens the problem, goal, and boundaries before the actual weighing begins.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.In early decisions, alternatives are often still vague, incomplete, or blended together. Option Framing brings every possibility into a comparable form and makes visible which variant actually fits the question.With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects.
Complexitydifferent
MediumHighMediumMedium
Timedifferent
60-120 minSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope45-120 min45-120 min
Participantsdifferent
4-10Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders3-82-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Decision Frame, Decision Question, Criteria List, Evidence PlanPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsOption Frames, Assumption Notes, Comparable Shortlist, Decision InputsTrade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides
Tagsno overlap
Decision framingAlignmentCriteriaOptions
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
OptionsDecision framingStrategyComparison
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
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