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

Criterion	Decision Making Decision Tree	Architecture Architecture Decision Record	Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)	Decision Making Argument Mapping
Purposedifferent	For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch.	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.	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.	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	Low	Medium	Medium
Timedifferent	30-90 min	15-45 min	2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional	1-3 h
Participantsdifferent	1-6	1-3	Designers, developers as users, and facilitation	1-8
Formatdifferent	Workshop + async	Async	Workshop + async	Workshop + async
Outputdifferent	Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List	ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale	Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions	Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale
Tagsno overlap	DecisionTreeOptions	ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance	ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks	SensemakingDecisionRationale

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