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| Criterion | ![]() Innovation Design Thinking | ![]() Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) | ![]() Business Strategy 5-Minuten VC-Check | ![]() Innovation Design Sprint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For complex user problems with an uncertain cause, the method connects observation, interpretation, and experiment into a learning cycle. It keeps the focus on real needs and avoids premature solution language. This produces robust decisions for product and service. | 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. | The 5-Minute VC Check clarifies opportunities and strategic options at the earliest idea stage. It compares problem quality, customer willingness to pay, alternatives, differentiation, and market potential, and captures the result as a VC-check note, go/sharpen/park decision, and risk list. | When the product question is unclear and time pressure is high, the method takes a team from an open idea to a testable solution. It connects problem understanding, decision, and learning in one compact format, lowering the risk of spending a lot of energy on a mere guess. |
Complexitydifferent | High | High | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 1 Tag bis mehrere Wochen | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 5-15 min | 4-5 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 4-10 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 1-5 | 5-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Problem Statement, Prototype, Test Learnings | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | VC-check note, Go/sharpen/park decision, Risk and assumption list, Next validation step | Prototype, Test Findings, Decision Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | InnovationPrototypeResearch | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | StartupValidationCompetition | Design sprintPrototypeValidationInnovation |



