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Criterion
Paper illustration of a calibrated five-by-five risk matrix with response cards.
Decision Making
Risk Matrix
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
Purposedifferent
When a project faces many possible disruptions, it quickly becomes unclear which risks deserve attention first. It separates options, evaluation criteria, and open risks. The result is captured as a Risk Matrix and a Top Risk List.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.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
30-60 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional15-45 min1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung
Participantsdifferent
3-10Designers, developers as users, and facilitation1-33-20 Reviewer
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncAsyncAsync
Outputdifferent
Risk Matrix, Top Risk ListPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsADR File, Decision Log, RationaleRFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets
Tagsno overlap
RiskDecisionPrioritizationAssessment
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance
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