Checklist for Architectural Design Review

Introduction

The purpose of the Architecture Review checklist is to support the reviewers in their task of identifying as many defects and design flaws as possible during the review meeting

Topics to Consider

Below is a list of the topics to consider as part of the Architectural Design Review – the list cannot be guaranteed to be complete.

Topics	Description
Structure	Does the architecture allow for implementation of all of the requirements? Has the architecture been adequately decomposed? Have the system functions been appropriately allocated to components? Does the architecture provide an adequate base for subsequent design work? Is the architecture feasible for implementation? Have maintainability issues been adequately addressed? Can the program set be integrated and tested in an incremental fashion?
Correctness	Does the architecture avoid unnecessary redundancy? Have all reliability and performance requirements been addressed? Have all security considerations been addressed? Does the architecture consider all existing constraints? Are all necessary and only the necessary, data structures defined? Will the proposed architecture satisfy all specified quality attributes and performance goals?
Standards and traceability	Have all architecture standards been followed?Can all parts of the architecture be traced back to requirements? Are standard, not proprietary, components being used wherever possible?
Logic	Is there any 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 multiple representations of the design consistent with each other? Are all of the decisions, dependencies, and assumptions for this design documented?