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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 a decision table with criteria rows, weighted ratings, and a narrowly leading alternative.
Decision Making
Decision Matrix
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 several options collide with several criteria, comparison quickly becomes subjective. A Decision Matrix makes the trade-off visible and brings weighting, criteria, and options into a shared logic.
Complexitydifferent
HighMedium
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting2-8
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 alternativesDecision Matrix, Scoring Rationale, Selected Option
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
DecisionCriteriaScoringTradeoffs
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Paper illustration for Change Analysis.
Operations
Change Analysis
Paper illustration of the Force Field Analysis working structure.
Decision Making
Force Field Analysis