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| Criterion |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Architecture Risk Storming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | 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. | Helps clarify architecture context, options, and consequences in concrete terms. It organizes technical context, alternatives, and consequences. The result is captured as an Annotated Diagram, a Prioritized Risk List, and an Action Backlog. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 20–45 min | 60-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | Small cross-functional group | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Annotated Diagram, Prioritized Risk List, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | DecisionTreeOptions | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | RiskArchitectureWorkshopValidation |