Active Reviews for Intermediate Design (ARID) are an easy, lightweight evaluation approach for software architecture that concentrates on suitability and does not require complete documentation. A hybrid of active design reviews and scenario-based architecture evaluation methods (such as the SEI Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method), ARID leverages active stakeholders' participation and helps to gain their early buy-in.

Challenges

• How do you determine whether your architecture design is tenable?
• How do you unveil the design to the community of software writers who need it to do their jobs?
• How do you engage stakeholders early in the design process and get their buy-in?
• How do you determine whether the services you've designed for an architectural element to provide are satisfactory?
• How do you ensure quality, detailed designs in your software?

Description

How do you know if a software architecture for a system is suitable without having to build the system first? The answer is to conduct an evaluation of it. A formal software architecture evaluation should be a standard part of the architecture-based software development life cycle. Architecture evaluation is a cost-effective way of mitigating the substantial risks associated with this important artifact.

Architects and designers often need insight into the viability of their early design strategies (or portions of their designs) before conducting a comprehensive architecture evaluation of their software architecture. These early designs are often poorly documented and sketchy, lacking important details that will emerge later. Nevertheless, reviewing a design in its pre-release stages can uncover important inconsistencies or oversights whose early correction can be invaluable.
To provide this insight, the SEI developed Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs (ARID). ARID is a blend of a stakeholder-centric, scenario-based, architecture evaluation method and an active design review (ADR) of design specifications.

ADRs are an effective technique for insuring quality detailed designs in software. The method ensures reviewers' active participation by asking them to utilize the design in a series of exercises, while carefully avoiding yes/no questions that are easy for a reviewer to undermine with a carelessly considered answer. This tests actual, not feigned, understanding.

The major steps of ARID are

• The designer who has commissioned the review works with the ARID facilitator to identify the best reviewers. These are usually the software engineers who will be expected to use the design, as they are in the best position to judge its adequacy.
• The designer prepares a briefing explaining the design, which is reviewed by the ARID facilitator. The designer presents the overview to the reviewers and walks through examples of using the design. A scribe captures questions and answers.
• The reviewers brainstorm scenarios for using the design to solve problems they expect to face. After a facilitated prioritization, the resulting set of scenarios operationally defines what it means for the design to be usable: If it performs well under the adopted scenarios, then it must be agreed that the design has passed the review.
• The reviewers begin to jointly craft code (or pseudo-code) that uses the design's services to solve the problem posed by each high-priority scenario. The scribe records issues, problems, and places where the stakeholders get stuck.

A typical ARID exercise takes about a day and a half.

Benefits

ARID helps the designers of architecture engage stakeholders and get their buy-in early in the design process. It also informs designers about whether their design is suitable for the overall system being developed. Reviewing a design in its pre-release stage provides valuable early insight into the design's viability and allows for timely discovery of errors, inconsistencies, and inadequacies.

Who Would Benefit

ARID is best suited for evaluating a partial design in its early stages. An example is an interface design for a module or subsystem that provides a cohesive set of services. At this stage, the designer merely wants to know "Am I on the right track? Are the services I'm designing in this part of the architecture sufficient?" In other words, the designer wants to know whether the design being proposed is suitable from the point of view of other parts of the architecture that will be required to use it.

Availability

SEI staff can help you use ARID at your organization. Contact us using the link in the For more information box at the bottom of this page.

Software Architecture Training and Publications

Software Architecture Training at the SEI

Software Architecture Publications

Related Reading

Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs
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