View methods side by side.
Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.
Selected:Request for CommentsCurrent Reality TreeARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)Causal Factor Analysis
| Criterion |  Architecture Request for Comments |  Systems Thinking Current Reality Tree |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once. | ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification. | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | 2-6 h | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-20 Reviewer | 3-8 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Current Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention Ideas | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline |