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Criterion
Paper illustration for Trade-off Analysis.
Decision Making
Trade-off Analysis
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments
Paper illustration of a calm four-quadrant Assumption Map with hypothesis cards and emphasis on important assumptions with little evidence.
Product Discovery
Assumption Mapping
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
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.An RFC clarifies architecture context, options, and consequences. It structures technical context, alternatives, tradeoffs, open questions, and review feedback, and captures the result as an RFC document, reviewer comments, and a decision rationale.When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first.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
MediumMediumMediumHigh
Timedifferent
45-120 min1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung45-60 minSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope
Participantsdifferent
2-83-20 Reviewer2-8Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted DownsidesRFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or ticketsAssumption map, Test backlog, Risk rankingPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations
Tagsno overlap
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance
AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
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