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Criterion
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
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 Five-Minute VC Check with its method-specific working model.
Business Strategy
5-Minuten VC-Check
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Purposedifferent
SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning.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.The 5-Minute VC Check clarifies opportunities and strategic options at the earliest idea stage. It compares problem quality, customer willingness to pay, alternatives, differentiation, and market potential, and captures the result as a VC-check note, go/sharpen/park decision, and 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.
Complexitydifferent
HighLowLowMedium
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope15-45 min5-15 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting1-31-5Designers, developers as users, and facilitation
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Domain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternativesADR File, Decision Log, RationaleVC-check note, Go/sharpen/park decision, Risk and assumption list, Next validation stepPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
StartupValidationCompetition
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
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