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| Criterion |  Engineering Failure Scenario Analysis |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Architecture arc42 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | 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. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 20–45 min | 15-45 min | 1-2 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | Small cross-functional group | 1-3 | 1-4 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Failure Scenarios, Risk Notes, Control Gaps, Test and Response Actions | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View |
Tagsno overlap | FailureResilienceRisk | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication |