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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 Change Analysis.
Operations
Change Analysis
Anonymous individual judgments pass through feedback loops to form a distribution.
Decision Making
Delphi Method
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
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.For a deviation after a change, the method isolates the influence of the altered condition. It narrows down which differences are relevant and which are just accompanying noise.When knowledge is distributed and direct dominance should be avoided, groups quickly fall under the sway of their opinion leaders. The Delphi Method gathers assessments iteratively and gradually brings expert judgments closer together.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.
Complexitydifferent
HighMediumHighHigh
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope45-120 min1-4 WochenSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting2-66-30 ExpertenEvaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + 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 alternativesChange Matrix, Cause Hypotheses, Validation Questions, Action ListExpert Forecast, Consensus Range, Assumption NotesPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
ChangeRoot causeTroubleshootingComparison
ForecastingExpertsDecisionStrategy
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
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