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| Criterion |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Architecture arc42 |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Architecture Views and Beyond |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | 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. | 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. | Views and Beyond organizes architecture into several views so no single diagram has to do everything at once. This makes it possible to choose the representation that fits the stakeholder's question. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 1-2 Tage | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 1-3 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 1-4 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 1-4 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Architecture Views, Cross-view Notes, Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeQualityOperations | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture |