Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM)

The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) is a qualitative evaluation method, developed at the Software Engineering Institute, for assessing whether a software architecture is likely to satisfy its required quality attributes. Rather than measuring or calculating properties of the system, it brings structured judgment to bear on where an architecture’s risks and trade-offs lie.

The method is built around a hierarchical quality tree, which refines the abstract goal of "quality" down into concrete quality scenarios – fine-grained statements of desired behavior under a specific stimulus.

Each scenario is compared against the architectural approach intended to satisfy it, a process that surfaces sensitivity points, elements that influence more than one quality attribute, and trade-off points, elements where improving one attribute comes at the cost of another.

References

• Bass, Clements, and Kazman (2021). Software Architecture in Practice (4th ed.). Addison-Wesley.