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Criterion
Paper illustration of the Force Field Analysis working structure.
Decision Making
Force Field Analysis
Anonymous individual judgments pass through feedback loops to form a distribution.
Decision Making
Delphi Method
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Purposedifferent
In change initiatives, supporting and restraining forces sit at the table at the same time. Force Field Analysis makes these tensions explicit and shows where change can be pushed forward by strengthening or relieving.When knowledge is distributed and direct dominance should be avoided, groups quickly fall under the sway of their opinion leaders. The Delphi Method gathers assessments iteratively and gradually brings expert judgments closer together.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.SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighHighHigh
Timedifferent
45-90 min1-4 WochenSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scopePreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope
Participantsdifferent
3-126-30 ExpertenEvaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholdersArchitecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting
Formatdifferent
WorkshopAsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Force Field Map, Change Levers, Risk NotesExpert Forecast, Consensus Range, Assumption NotesPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsDomain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternatives
Tagsno overlap
ChangeDecisionStrategy
ForecastingExpertsDecisionStrategy
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
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