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Selected:Decision MatrixARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Request for CommentsATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
| Criterion |  Decision Making Decision Matrix |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Architecture Request for Comments |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 3-20 Reviewer | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders |
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 | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations |
Tagsno overlap | DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders |