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Criterion
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration of Decision Rights Mapping with its method-specific working model.
Decision Making
Decision Rights Mapping
A paper-based illustration representing arc42 with its core stages and visible working result.
Architecture
arc42
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.In organizations with many stakeholders, it often blurs who actually decides and who is merely consulted. It separates options, evaluation criteria, and open risks. The result is captured as a Decision Rights matrix and an agreement.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
LowMediumLow
Timedifferent
20–45 min90-180 min1-2 Tage
Participantsdifferent
Small cross-functional group4-121-4
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logDecision Rights Matrix, AgreementArchitecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View
Tagsno overlap
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
DecisionGovernanceAlignmentResponsibility
ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
Architecture Communication Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Architecture Communication Canvas