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Criterion
Three Amigos method illustration showing its working structure
Agile
Three Amigos
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of a yellow story card, blue rule cards, green example cards and a red question card on a light workspace.
Agile
Example Mapping
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Purposedifferent
When story, test, and implementation could drift apart, it brings business perspective, engineering, and quality together early. It prevents a story from being read differently only late in the process.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 story carries business rules and exceptions, it brings clarity before implementation. It makes examples, open questions, and boundaries visible enough that the logic becomes jointly sound.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
LowHighLowHigh
Timedifferent
15-30 minPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope30-60 minSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope
Participantsdifferent
3Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting3-7Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Clarified Story, Test Examples, Open QuestionsDomain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternativesExample Map, Acceptance Criteria, Open QuestionsPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations
Tagsno overlap
CollaborationBehavior-Driven DevelopmentQualityRefinement
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
Behavior-Driven DevelopmentRequirementsExamplesRefinement
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
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