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| Criterion |  Architecture Request for Comments |  UX Research Card Sorting |  Decision Making Argument Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale. | When content only makes sense internally and users can't find the structure again, card sorting exposes their mental order. Terms, groups, and naming are then aligned with the target group's expectations. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | 20-45 min | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-20 Reviewer | Based on research question | 1-8 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Content groups, Label set, IA hypotheses | Argument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | Information architectureNavigationStructure | SensemakingDecisionRationale |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.
