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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 four-quadrant grid with tasks sorted by importance and urgency and translated into actions.
Decision Making
Eisenhower Matrix
Paper illustration of a calibrated five-by-five risk matrix with response cards.
Decision Making
Risk Matrix
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
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.It separates true priorities from noise so it becomes clear what should be done now, scheduled, delegated, or dropped.When a project faces many possible disruptions, it quickly becomes unclear which risks deserve attention first. It separates options, evaluation criteria, and open risks. The result is captured as a Risk Matrix and a Top Risk List.ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification.
Complexitydifferent
HighLowLowMedium
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope15-30 min30-60 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting1-63-10Designers, developers as users, and facilitation
Formatsame
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + 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 alternativesEisenhower Matrix, Action List, Delegation NotesRisk Matrix, Top Risk ListPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
PrioritizationFocusTasks
RiskDecisionPrioritizationAssessment
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
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