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| Criterion |  Facilitation Mind Mapping |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | 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 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 30-60 min | 1-2 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 2-8 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | Root causeQualityOperations | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation |