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| Criterion | ![]() Architecture Request for Comments | ![]() Product Strategy Lean Canvas | ![]() Architecture Architecture Decision Record | ![]() Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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 an early product bet still has too many open points, it brings target group, problem, and assumptions into a single view. It condenses the idea so core risks become nameable. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | 45-90 min | 15-45 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-20 Reviewer | 1-6 | 1-3 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Lean Canvas, Core Assumptions, Experiment Backlog | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | StartupLeanAssumptionsBusiness model | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |



