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Criterion
Paper illustration of a decision table with criteria rows, weighted ratings, and a narrowly leading alternative.
Decision Making
Decision Matrix
Paper illustration for Golden Path
Engineering
Golden Path
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
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.When teams need a reliable default path for frequent use, sprawl quickly emerges without any guiding logic. Golden Path bundles the preferred path so good practice becomes easy and deviation becomes deliberate.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
MediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
45-90 min1-3 Tage Setup, laufend15-45 min
Participantsdifferent
2-82-81-3
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncAsync
Outputdifferent
Decision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected OptionGolden Path Guide, Templates, Quality ChecksADR File, Decision Log, Rationale
Tagsno overlap
DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs
EngineeringProductivityGovernance
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Paper illustration for Argument Mapping
Decision Making
Argument Mapping