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| Criterion |  Decision Making Delphi Method |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  Decision Making Decision Matrix |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When knowledge is distributed and direct dominance should be avoided, groups quickly fall under the sway of their opinion leaders. The Delphi Method gathers assessments iteratively and gradually brings expert judgments closer together. | ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-4 Wochen | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 45-120 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 6-30 Experten | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Expert Forecast, Consensus Range, Assumption Notes | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Decision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected Option |
Tagsno overlap | ForecastingExpertsDecisionStrategy | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs |