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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 for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Paper illustration of the McKinsey 7S Framework with seven connected fields
Business Strategy
McKinsey 7S
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
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.When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable.McKinsey 7S checks whether Strategy, Structure, Systems, Shared Values, Skills, Style, and Staff fit together. Organizational misalignments become visible across multiple levers as a result.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
MediumMediumMediumHigh
Timedifferent
3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional1-2 h2-4 hPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope
Participantsdifferent
1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people4-123-12Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + 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 checksAlignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions7S Assessment, Alignment Gaps, Change ActionsDomain 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
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
OrganizationStrategyAlignmentChange
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
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