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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 calibrated five-by-five risk matrix with response cards.
Decision Making
Risk Matrix
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 a project faces many possible disruptions, it quickly becomes unclear which risks deserve attention first. It separates options, evaluation criteria, and open risks. The result is captured as a Risk Matrix and a Top Risk List.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
45-120 min1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
2-83-20 Reviewer3-10
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Trade-off Matrix, Criteria List, Decision Rationale, Accepted DownsidesRFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or ticketsRisk Matrix, Top Risk List
Tags1 shared
TradeoffsDecisionCriteriaOptions
ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance
RiskDecisionPrioritizationAssessment
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of a decision table with criteria rows, weighted ratings, and a narrowly leading alternative.
Decision Making
Decision Matrix
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)
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record