Architecture Evaluation

Core principle: Every architecture decision trades quality attributes — optimizing one degrades another. Make trade-offs explicit, document in an ADR, and assess reversibility. The best architecture is the one whose trade-offs the team can live with.

When to Use This Skill

• Choosing between system architectures or technology stacks
• Design review needs structured evaluation, not opinion
• About to commit (database, messaging pattern, deployment model) without documenting trade-offs
• An ADR needs to be produced
• "Should we use X?" where X is an architecture pattern or technology
• A systems-thinking analysis surfaced structural concerns needing architecture-level resolution

Core Methodology