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| Criterion | ![]() UX Research User Interviews | ![]() Architecture Request for Comments | ![]() Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) | ![]() Delivery RAID Log |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When teams derive needs only from assumptions and real motives are missing, user interviews give direct access to behavior and meaning. Conversations from the target group's everyday life make patterns, tensions, and open questions solidly visible. | 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. | 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. | Helps clarify scope, sequence, and delivery flow in concrete terms. It makes work, boundaries, and order steerable. The result is captured as a RAID Log and a source for status reporting. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 30–60 min per interview | 1-3 Wochen vom Draft bis zur Entscheidung | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 30 min Setup, dann laufend |
Participantsdifferent | 1 participant per interview | 3-20 Reviewer | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 1-3 maintaining, briefing for everyone |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Interview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary | RFC document, Reviewer comments, Decision rationale, Follow-up ADR or tickets | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | RAID Log, Status Report Source |
Tagsno overlap | QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery | ArchitectureDecisionAsyncGovernance | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | RiskTrackingStakeholdersGovernance |



