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Criterion
Paper board with the four ROAM fields Resolved, Owned, Accepted, and Mitigated.
Agile
ROAM Board
Paper illustration showing three sorted card stacks and an open question about a possible group.
UX Research
Card Sorting
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Alignment Mapping.
Facilitation
Alignment Mapping
Purposedifferent
When work needs to move between different states or columns, it makes that movement and its handoffs legible. It sorts work by value, risk, and delivery ability. The result is captured as a ROAM Board and an Owner List.When content only makes sense internally and users can't find the structure again, card sorting exposes their mental order. Terms, groups, and naming are then aligned with the target group's expectations.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.When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable.
Complexitydifferent
LowLowHighMedium
Timedifferent
20-40 min initial, dann laufend20-45 minSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope1-2 h
Participantsdifferent
3-15Based on research questionEvaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders4-12
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
ROAM Board, Owner ListContent groups, Label set, IA hypothesesPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsAlignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions
Tagsno overlap
RiskAgileTrackingAlignment
Information architectureNavigationStructure
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation
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