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Priority Matrix and Analytical Roadmap

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About This MicroSim

This MicroSim plots a healthcare patient-portal utility tree's leaf scenarios on a 2×2 priority matrix — Importance on the vertical axis, Difficulty on the horizontal. Each quadrant carries an analytical recommendation, and the top-right Critical — Analyze First (H,H) quadrant is the set an ATAM team examines first. Dots are colored by quality attribute and can be dragged between quadrants so students can judge whether a given distribution focuses the evaluation appropriately.

How to Use

  1. Click a dot to read its full scenario and its Importance/Difficulty rating in the detail panel.
  2. Drag a dot to reclassify it. The (H,H) Analyze-First badge updates live, so you can see how reclassification changes the analytical roadmap.
  3. Show Critical Path links the (H,H) scenarios in evaluation order.
  4. Filter cycles through the quality attributes, dimming the others so you can assess one attribute's distribution at a time.
  5. Reset restores the original ratings.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/atam/sims/priority-matrix-explorer/main.html"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Grade Level

Undergraduate / Professional

Duration

15-20 minutes

Prerequisites

Familiarity with utility trees and the (Importance, Difficulty) rating of leaf scenarios.

Bloom's Taxonomy Level

Evaluate (L5)

Learning Objective

Students will be able to interpret the priority-matrix distribution of a utility tree, evaluate whether the (H,H) scenario count and distribution is appropriate for a complete evaluation, and identify which scenarios the team should analyze first.

Activities

  1. Read the distribution (5 min): Students count the (H,H) scenarios and name the quality attributes that dominate the critical quadrant.
  2. Stress test (5 min): Students drag a borderline scenario across the Importance line and discuss how an over-full (H,H) quadrant dilutes a fixed analysis budget.
  3. Roadmap (5 min): Using Show Critical Path, students propose the order in which the team should analyze the critical scenarios and justify it.

Assessment

Ask students whether a utility tree with twelve (H,H) scenarios and a one-day evaluation is well-formed, and to use the matrix to argue for re-rating some scenarios.

References

  1. Bass, L., Clements, P., & Kazman, R. (2021). Software Architecture in Practice (4th ed.). Addison-Wesley.
  2. Kazman, R., Klein, M., & Clements, P. (2000). ATAM: Method for Architecture Evaluation (CMU/SEI-2000-TR-004).