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| Criterion | ![]() Facilitation Mind Mapping | ![]() Architecture Request for Comments | ![]() Architecture arc42 |
|---|---|---|---|
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. | An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | 1-2 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | 3-20 Reviewer | 1-4 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication |
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