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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 branching impact map with a Why goal at the root, actor circles, How behavior changes and What options.
Product Strategy
Impact Mapping
Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
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 a goal needs to be connected to several possible paths, it shows chains of impact instead of feature lists. It connects business goal, behavior change, and measures.For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability.
Complexitydifferent
HighMediumHigh
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope45-90 min2-6 h
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting3-83-10
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
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 alternativesImpact Map, Outcome Hypotheses, Delivery OptionsFMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
OutcomesStrategyBehaviorPlanning
RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause
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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 Change Analysis.
Operations
Change Analysis
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Gap Analysis method illustration showing its working structure
Business Strategy
GAP Analysis