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Criterion
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Paper illustration of Power-Interest Grid with a method-specific labelled workspace.
Facilitation
Power Interest Grid
Paper illustration for 3-Circle Venn Diagram
Facilitation
3-Circle Venn Diagram
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.LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail.When many stakeholders compete for attention at once, the Power Interest Grid sorts them by influence and stake. It turns individual contributions into a visible selection. The result is captured as a Power Interest Grid and a stakeholder-specific strategy.When three perspectives matter at the same time, a Three-Circle Venn Diagram shows the overlaps and remainders precisely. It makes visible where shared effect arises and where only a partial perspective applies.
Complexitydifferent
HighMediumLowLow
Timedifferent
Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional30-60 min15-45 min
Participantsdifferent
Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people2-82-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + 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 alternativesLean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checksPower Interest Grid, Strategy per StakeholderVenn Diagram, Overlap Notes, Differentiators
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
StakeholdersFacilitationAlignmentPlanning
ComparisonFacilitationAlignment
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