architecture-tradeoff-analysislisted

# Architecture Tradeoff Analysis ## Overview Use this skill to make architecture choices explicit, comparable, and auditable instead of preference-driven. ## Scope Boundaries - There are several plausible architecture options. - Decision stakes are high and reversal is expensive. - Teams need a shared basis for selecting one option. ## Core Judgments - Option quality: whether candidates are realistic for the current context. - Criteria set: business and technical dimensions that actually drive success. - Weighting model: which criteria dominate and why. - Sensitivity: how decision changes when assumptions shift. ## Practitioner Heuristics - Keep criteria small and high-impact; too many criteria hide real priorities. - Separate hard constraints from weighted preferences. - Include operational burden and team capability as first-class criteria. - Document dominant assumptions and the signals that would invalidate them. ## Workflow 1. Define decision question, constraints, and decision horizon. 2. Enumerate candidate options and reject non-viable ones early. 3. Set criteria and weighting aligned to current strategy. 4. Score options with evidence-backed rationale per criterion. 5. Run sensitivity analysis on top-weighted criteria and uncertain assumptions. 6. Select preferred option and document fallback decision path. ## Common Failure Modes - Scoring hides biased assumptions rather than exposing them. - Analysis compares abstract patterns, not implementable options. - Se