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| Criterion | ![]() Decision Making Risk Matrix | ![]() Decision Making Trade-off Analysis | ![]() Architecture arc42 |
|---|---|---|---|
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. | With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-60 min | 45-120 min | 1-2 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 2-8 | 1-4 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Risk Matrix, Top Risk List | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View |
Tagsno overlap | RiskDecisionPrioritizationAssessment | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication |
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