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| Criterion |  Architecture Quality Attribute Workshop |  Decision Making Argument Mapping |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | A Quality Attribute Workshop translates quality requirements into concrete scenarios and architecture impulses. The method brings product, engineering, and operations to the same view of desired properties. | When statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-4 h | 1-3 h | 45-90 min | 15-45 min |
Participantsdifferent | 5-15 | 1-8 | 2-8 | 1-3 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Quality Scenarios, Priority List, Architecture Concerns | Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | RequirementsArchitectureWorkshop | SensemakingDecisionRationale | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance |