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| Criterion |  Decision Making Option Framing |  Architecture Views and Beyond |  Architecture arc42 |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In early decisions, alternatives are often still vague, incomplete, or blended together. Option Framing brings every possibility into a comparable form and makes visible which variant actually fits the question. | Views and Beyond organizes architecture into several views so no single diagram has to do everything at once. This makes it possible to choose the representation that fits the stakeholder's question. | 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. | 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 | Medium | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-120 min | 1-3 Tage | 1-2 Tage | 1-2 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Option Frames, Assumption Notes, Comparable Shortlist, Decision Inputs | Architecture Views, Cross-view Notes, Rationale | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions |
Tagsno overlap | OptionsDecision framingStrategyComparison | DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation |