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Selected:Decision Matrix ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Architecture Decision Record Argument Mapping

Criterion	Decision Making Decision Matrix	Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)	Architecture Architecture Decision Record	Decision Making Argument Mapping
Purposedifferent	When several options collide with several criteria, comparison quickly becomes subjective. A Decision Matrix makes the trade-off visible and brings weighting, criteria, and options into a shared logic.	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.	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.	When statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on.
Complexitydifferent	Medium	Medium	Low	Medium
Timedifferent	45-90 min	2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional	15-45 min	1-3 h
Participantsdifferent	2-8	Designers, developers as users, and facilitation	1-3	1-8
Formatdifferent	Workshop + async	Workshop + async	Async	Workshop + async
Outputdifferent	Decision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected Option	Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions	ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale	Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale
Tagsno overlap	DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs	ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks	ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance	SensemakingDecisionRationale

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