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Criterion
Paper illustration of Shape Up with its method-specific working model.
Delivery
Shape Up
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Purposedifferent
Shape Up helps clarify scope, sequence, and delivery flow. It makes work boundaries and decisions explicit and captures results as pitches, bet-table decisions, and hill charts.In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.
Complexitydifferent
MediumLowHigh
Timedifferent
6 Wochen Cycle + 2 Wochen Cool-Down20–45 minSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope
Participantsdifferent
2-4 pro PitchSmall cross-functional groupEvaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Pitches, Bet-table decisions, Hill charts, Cooldown outcomesRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations
Tagsno overlap
PlanningDeliveryAutonomy
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for Communication Plan
Delivery
Communication Plan
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)
Architecture Communication Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Architecture Communication Canvas
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing