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Criterion
Paper illustration of Leverage Points with its method-specific working model.
Systems Thinking
Leverage Points
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 fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Purposedifferent
Leverage Points show exactly where interventions in a system produce a disproportionate effect. It draws relationships, patterns, and feedback loops. The result is captured as a leverage map and action strategy.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 a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers.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
HighMediumLowHigh
Timedifferent
Half day3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional30-60 minPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope
Participantsdifferent
3-121 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people2-8Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Leverage Map, Action StrategyLean 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 checksFishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation BacklogDomain 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
Systems thinkingChangeStrategy
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
Root causeQualityOperations
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
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