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Criterion
Anonymous individual judgments pass through feedback loops to form a distribution.
Decision Making
Delphi Method
Decision Tree method illustration showing its working structure
Decision Making
Decision Tree
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
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.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 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.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
HighMediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
1-4 Wochen30-90 min1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung15-45 min
Participantsdifferent
6-30 Experten1-63-20 Reviewer1-3
Formatdifferent
AsyncWorkshop + asyncAsyncAsync
Outputdifferent
Expert Forecast, Consensus Range, Assumption NotesDecision Tree, Option Map, Assumption ListRFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or ticketsADR File, Decision Log, Rationale
Tagsno overlap
ForecastingExpertsDecisionStrategy
DecisionTreeOptions
ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
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