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Criterion
Visual Management workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Operations
Visual Management
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Decision Framing Workshop.
Decision Making
Decision Framing Workshop
Architecture Inception Canvas method illustration showing its working structure
Architecture
Architecture Inception Canvas
Purposedifferent
With high tempo and many parallel topics, the method makes status, deviations, and priorities visible at a glance. It reduces search effort and prevents what matters from getting lost in daily work.SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning.When a decision is poorly framed, even good answers deliver little value. A Decision Framing Workshop sharpens the problem, goal, and boundaries before the actual weighing begins.The Architecture Inception Canvas bundles the first architecture questions into a compact decision picture. It fits when an initiative is still in motion but still needs clear guardrails.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighMediumLow
Timedifferent
OngoingPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope60-120 min1-2 h
Participantsdifferent
1-20Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting4-103-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Visual Board, Status Indicators, Exception CuesDomain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternativesDecision Frame, Decision Question, Criteria List, Evidence PlanInception Canvas, Risks, Goal List, Open Questions
Tagsno overlap
SignalsOperationsVisual management
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
Decision framingAlignmentCriteriaOptions
AlignmentArchitectureCanvas
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