methodatlas
Compare

View methods side by side.

Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.

Criterion
Paper illustration for Risk Storming.
Architecture
Risk Storming
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
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.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumMedium
Timedifferent
60-90 min45-120 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional
Participantsdifferent
4-122-8Designers, developers as users, and facilitation
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Annotated Diagram, Prioritized Risk List, Action BacklogTrade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted DownsidesPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions
Tagsno overlap
RiskArchitectureWorkshopValidation
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
Add more methods

Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of a decision table with criteria rows, weighted ratings, and a narrowly leading alternative.
Decision Making
Decision Matrix
Paper illustration of a calm four-quadrant Assumption Map with hypothesis cards and emphasis on important assumptions with little evidence.
Product Discovery
Assumption Mapping
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing