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| Criterion |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Decision Making Risk Matrix |  Delivery Communication Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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 project faces many possible disruptions, it quickly becomes unclear which risks deserve attention first. It separates options, evaluation criteria, and open risks. The result is captured as a Risk Matrix and a Top Risk List. | When many people need to be informed in parallel and messages would otherwise arrive unevenly or too late, a Communication Plan orders communication reliably. Channels, audiences, and cadences interlock so important information doesn't get lost. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 20–45 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 30-60 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | Small cross-functional group | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 3-10 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Risk Matrix, Top Risk List | Communication Plan, Channel Matrix, Message Cadence |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | RiskDecisionPrioritizationAssessment | CommunicationStakeholdersDeliveryPlanning |