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| Criterion |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |  Architecture LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | 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. |
Complexitysame | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-120 min | 1-2 h | 3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 4-12 | 1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Lean 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 checks |
Tagsno overlap | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean |
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