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Selected:Failure Scenario AnalysisATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)Pre-MortemAssumption Surfacing
| Criterion |  Engineering Failure Scenario Analysis |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In critical processes, it is not enough to plan only for the normal case. Failure Scenario Analysis looks at the path into failure and shows which failures, chains, and control gaps cause the most damage. | 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. | 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. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 20–45 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | Small cross-functional group | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Failure Scenarios, Risk Notes, Control Gaps, Test and Response Actions | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tags1 shared | FailureResilienceRisk | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |