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Criterion
Paper illustration for Risk Storming.
Architecture
Risk Storming
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Purposedifferent
Helps clarify architecture context, options, and consequences in concrete terms. It organizes technical context, alternatives, and consequences. The result is captured as an Annotated Diagram, a Prioritized Risk List, and an Action Backlog.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.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.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighLow
Timedifferent
60-90 minSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope20–45 min
Participantsdifferent
4-12Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholdersSmall cross-functional group
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Annotated Diagram, Prioritized Risk List, Action BacklogPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption log
Tags1 shared
RiskArchitectureWorkshopValidation
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Architecture Communication Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Architecture Communication Canvas
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Paper illustration of a calm four-quadrant Assumption Map with hypothesis cards and emphasis on important assumptions with little evidence.
Product Discovery
Assumption Mapping