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| Criterion |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  Decision Making Option Framing |
|---|---|---|---|
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. | With limited resources, quality, speed, cost, and risk almost always compete with each other. Trade-off Analysis makes these tensions explicit and prevents decisions from producing hidden side effects. | In early decisions, alternatives are often still vague, incomplete, or blended together. Option Framing brings every possibility into a comparable form and makes visible which variant actually fits the question. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 45-120 min | 45-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + 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 alternatives | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Option Frames, Assumption Notes, Comparable Shortlist, Decision Inputs |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | OptionsDecision framingStrategyComparison |
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