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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
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
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.In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
45-90 min20–45 min1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung
Participantsdifferent
2-8Small cross-functional group3-20 Reviewer
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopAsync
Outputdifferent
Decision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected OptionRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logRFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets
Tags1 shared
DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing