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Selected:Trade-off AnalysisATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)Experiment CanvasAssumption Surfacing
| Criterion |  Decision Making Trade-off Analysis |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Product Discovery Experiment Canvas |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | 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. | When experiments become unreadable after the fact, it arranges hypothesis, signal, and learning goal on a single canvas. It separates problem, assumption, solution, and evidence. The result is captured as a Completed Experiment Canvas and a Success Metric. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-120 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 30-60 min | 45-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 1-5 | 2-8 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted Downsides | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Completed Experiment Canvas, Success Metric | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan |
Tagsno overlap | TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | ExperimentsValidationDiscoveryHypothesis | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery |