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Criterion
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Argument Mapping
Decision Making
Argument Mapping
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.When statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on.
Complexitydifferent
HighMedium
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope1-3 h
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting1-8
Formatsame
Workshop + 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 alternativesArgument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision Rationale
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
SensemakingDecisionRationale
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Change Analysis.
Operations
Change Analysis
Paper illustration for Cynefin Workshop.
Decision Making
Cynefin Workshop