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Criterion
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Paper illustration of a decision table with criteria rows, weighted ratings, and a narrowly leading alternative.
Decision Making
Decision Matrix
Purposedifferent
LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail.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.With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects.When several options collide with several criteria, comparison quickly becomes subjective. A Decision Matrix makes the trade-off visible and brings weighting, criteria, and options into a shared logic.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowMediumMedium
Timedifferent
3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional15-45 min45-120 min45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people1-32-82-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Lean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checksADR File, Decision Log, RationaleTrade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted DownsidesDecision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected Option
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs
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