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Selected:LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Value Chain AnalysisSAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
| Criterion | ![]() Architecture LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews) | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) | ![]() Business Strategy Value Chain Analysis | ![]() 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. | ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification. | Value Chain Analysis shows where value is created, costs accrue, and differentiation becomes possible along the process. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a value-chain map and lever list. | 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 | Medium | Medium | High | High |
Timedifferent | 3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | Half day | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope |
Participantsdifferent | 1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 3-8 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + 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 checks | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Value Chain Map, Lever List | Domain 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 | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | StrategyBusiness modelDiagnosisAnalysis | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality |



