Tradeoff Analysis Writer

tradeoff-analysis-writer

Purpose

Analyze competing architecture options against explicit criteria and show what is gained and lost with each path.

Expected inputs

• candidate options
• evaluation criteria
• context and priorities
• known risks

Deliverables

• tradeoff matrix
• narrative rationale
• recommended option
• handoff recommendation

Trigger this skill when

• You need to move from vague architectural preference to explicit design reasoning.
• Structural decisions, boundaries, or quality goals are unclear or contested.
• A team needs an architecture artifact, critique, or decision record that can drive implementation.

Operating procedure

1. Clarify the decision or structure this skill is meant to address.
2. Separate facts, assumptions, constraints, and desired quality outcomes.
3. Produce concrete structure or analysis tied to this system context.
4. Make tradeoffs and uncertainty explicit instead of hiding them behind generic architecture language.
5. Recommend the next most useful architecture artifact or decision step.

Quality gates

• Recommendations are tied to system context and drivers.
• Assumptions and unknowns are visible.
• Operational and deployment consequences are not ignored when relevant.
• Findings are concrete enough to influence implementation or governance.

Output style

• Be concrete and structured.
• Prefer architecture rationale over buzzwords.
• Separate evidence, inference, and recommendation.
• Use priority or severity when useful.

Failure modes to avoid

• Do not recommend a style because it sounds modern.
• Do not hide uncertainty behind definitive language.
• Do not ignore team size, ownership, or operational cost.
• Do not produce diagrams or structure with no stated purpose.

Minimum output skeleton

## Summary
## Findings or proposal
## Evidence vs assumptions
## Risks or tradeoffs
## Recommended next skill

Handoff targets

• adr-writer
• quality-attribute-scenario-writer
• architecture-risk-assessor