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| Criterion |  Decision Making Pre-Mortem |  Decision Making Decision Tree |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch. | 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 an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 20–45 min | 30-90 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | Small cross-functional group | 1-6 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionFailurePlanning | DecisionTreeOptions | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions |