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Criterion
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration for Argument Mapping
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.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.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
MediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung20–45 min1-3 h
Participantsdifferent
3-20 ReviewerSmall cross-functional group1-8
Formatdifferent
AsyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or ticketsRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logArgument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale
Tags1 shared
ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
SensemakingDecisionRationale
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Red Teaming method illustration showing its working structure
Decision Making
Red Teaming
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint Analysis