Checklist for Architecture Design Reviews

Checklist for Architecture Design Reviews

A nation is advanced in proportion to education and intelligence spread among the masses.
~Swami Vivekananda

Structure

  • Is the architecture complete, i.e., does it allow for implementation of all of the requirements?
  • Has the architecture been adequately decomposed?
  • Does the architecture provide an adequate base for the high-level design?
  • Is the architecture feasible?
  • Have maintainability issues been addressed?
  • Can the program set be integrated and tested in an incremental fashion?

Correctness

  • Does the architecture contain unnecessary redundancy?
  • Have all reliability and performance requirements been addressed?
  • Have all security considerations been addressed?
  • Does the architecture consider all existing constraints?
  • Is the architecture complete, correct, and unambiguous?
  • Are there any data structures needed that have not been defined, or are there unneeded data structures?

Standards and Traceability

  • Have all architecture standards been followed?
  • Can all parts of the design be traced back to requirements?

Logic

  • Is there missing or incomplete logic?
  • Are all possible states or cases considered?

Interfaces

  • Are all interfaces clear and well-defined?
  • Is the minimum data passed at each interface?
  • Is minimum global system data added or impacted?

Clarity

  • Is the architecture, including the data flow, control flow, and interfaces, clearly represented?
  • Are there multiple, consistent representations of the design?
  • Are all of the decisions, dependencies, and assumptions for this design documented?
Copyright © 1999 by Karl E. Wiegers. Permission is granted to use, modify, and distribute this document.