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| Criterion | ![]() Decision Making Pre-Mortem | ![]() Product Discovery Assumption Mapping | ![]() Architecture Software Architecture Canvas | ![]() Architecture Risk Storming |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. | The Software Architecture Canvas reduces a system to the most important architecture decisions, constraints, and interfaces. It is useful when teams need a resilient overall picture quickly. | Helps clarify architecture context, options, and consequences in concrete terms. It organizes technical context, alternatives, and consequences. The result is captured as an Annotated Diagram, a Prioritized Risk List, and an Action Backlog. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 20–45 min | 45-60 min | 1-2 h | 60-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | Small cross-functional group | 2-8 | 3-10 | 4-12 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking | Architecture Canvas, Goals, Constraints, Quality Attributes | Annotated Diagram, Prioritized Risk List, Action Backlog |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation | CanvasArchitectureAlignmentWorkshop | RiskArchitectureWorkshopValidation |



