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| Criterion |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Product Strategy ICE Scoring |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|
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 ideas need sorting quickly, it condenses impact, confidence, and effort into one compact score. It connects customer value, product logic, and decision priorities. The result is captured as an ICE table and top-ideas list. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 30-60 min | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 2-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
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 alternatives | ICE Table, Top Idea List | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | PrioritizationScoringGrowthDecision | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.
