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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 Cost of Delay with its method-specific working model.
Delivery
Cost of Delay
Paper illustration for Communication Plan
Delivery
Communication Plan
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.Helps clarify scope, order, and delivery flow in concrete terms. It makes work, constraints, and sequence manageable. The result is captured as a Cost of Delay table and prioritization sequence.When many people need to be informed in parallel and messages would otherwise arrive unevenly or too late, a Communication Plan orders communication reliably. Channels, audiences, and cadences interlock so important information doesn't get lost.
Complexitydifferent
HighHighLow
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope90-180 min45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting3-82-6
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + 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 alternativesCoD Table, Prioritization SequenceCommunication Plan, Channel Matrix, Message Cadence
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
PrioritizationDeliveryEconomicsDecision
CommunicationStakeholdersDeliveryPlanning
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Architecture Communication Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Architecture Communication Canvas
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
A paper-based illustration representing C4 Model with its core stages and visible working result.
Architecture
C4 Model