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Criterion
Paper illustration of two user profile cards with a goal, behavior evidence, and an open research question.
UX Research
Personas
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Views and Beyond method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Views and Beyond
Purposedifferent
When target groups stay too vague and teams talk about the same people differently, personas create a shared, solid picture of usage. Condensed profiles make needs, contexts, and differences tangible enough for decisions.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.An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumHighLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 TageSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope15-45 min1-3 Tage
Participantsdifferent
Internes TeamEvaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders1-31-4
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Persona Profiles, Needs Summary, Scenario NotesPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsADR File, Decision Log, RationaleArchitecture Views, Cross-view Notes, Rationale
Tagsno overlap
ResearchCustomerSynthesis
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture
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