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Selected:Evaporating Cloud ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)CATWOE Analysis Assumption Mapping

Criterion	Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud	Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)	Systems Thinking CATWOE Analysis	Product Discovery Assumption Mapping
Purposedifferent	The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict.	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.	CATWOE structures a problem from six viewpoints and prevents too narrow a view of the situation. Different experiences of the system become comparably discussable this way.	When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first.
Complexitydifferent	Medium	High	Medium	Medium
Timedifferent	60-120 min	Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope	45-90 min	45-60 min
Participantsdifferent	2-8	Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders	3-8	2-8
Formatdifferent	Workshop	Workshop + async	Workshop + async	Workshop + async
Outputdifferent	Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments	Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations	CATWOE Canvas, Root Definition, Stakeholder Perspectives, Constraints	Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking
Tagsno overlap	Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking	ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders	Systems thinkingFramingStakeholders	AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation

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