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| Criterion |  Agile Ideal Days |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Delivery Communication Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When effort needs to be thought of as real working time, it offers a simple common denominator for comparison. It sorts work by value, risk, and delivery ability. The result is captured as Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, and Capacity Caveats. | 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. | When many people need to be informed in parallel and messages would otherwise arrive unevenly or too late, a Communication Plan orders communication reliably. Channels, audiences, and cadences interlock so important information doesn't get lost. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-60 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-9 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 2-6 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Ideal Day Estimates, Assumption Notes, Capacity Caveats | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Communication Plan, Channel Matrix, Message Cadence |
Tagsno overlap | EstimationEffortAgile | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | CommunicationStakeholdersDeliveryPlanning |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.
