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| Criterion |  Decision Making Decision Matrix |  Architecture Views and Beyond |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  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. | Views and Beyond organizes architecture into several views so no single diagram has to do everything at once. This makes it possible to choose the representation that fits the stakeholder's 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. | 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 | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-3 Tage | 45-120 min | 15-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 1-4 | 2-8 | 1-3 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Decision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected Option | Architecture Views, Cross-view Notes, Rationale | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs | DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance |