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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 Decision Rights Mapping with its method-specific working model.
Decision Making
Decision Rights Mapping
Paper illustration of an activity-role table with clear RACI assignments and one highlighted accountable role per activity.
Operations
RACI 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.In organizations with many stakeholders, it often blurs who actually decides and who is merely consulted. It separates options, evaluation criteria, and open risks. The result is captured as a Decision Rights matrix and an agreement.With unclear responsibilities across several roles or areas, the method creates unambiguous accountability logic. It reduces friction because decision, execution, contribution, and information become separately visible.
Complexitydifferent
HighMediumLow
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope90-180 min45-90 min
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting4-122-8
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 alternativesDecision Rights Matrix, AgreementRACI Matrix, Responsibility Map, Decision Notes
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
DecisionGovernanceAlignmentResponsibility
RolesResponsibilityGovernanceOperations
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for RAPID
Decision Making
RAPID
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
Paper illustration for 3-Circle Venn Diagram
Facilitation
3-Circle Venn Diagram