# Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews (LASR)

**In short:** LASR is a lightweight way to review a software system. A small team runs a short, game-like workshop. It checks the system against quantified quality goals and gives first results within hours.

## Explanation

LASR is a review method for software systems. It is lighter than ATAM, a heavier evaluation method (see Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM)). LASR still focuses on the key quality attributes of the system. A quality attribute is a property such as speed or security (see Quality Attribute).

**Who runs it.** Two to four developers can run the review themselves. They need no separate evaluation support.

**How it runs.** The review is a short, moderated workshop. The moderation is game-like, so the review becomes a small team event. It works on site or remotely, and a few people are enough. First results appear within a few hours.

**The four steps.**

1. **Lean mission statement.** The team states briefly what the review is about.
2. **Evaluation criteria.** The team picks the top quality attributes of the system. Each gets a quantified objective. These objectives are the benchmark for the review.
3. **Risk-based review.** The team identifies the most significant risks against those objectives.
4. **Quality-focused analysis.** The team looks in depth at the controversial gaps between objectives and assessment. It also looks at cases where such gaps are missing.

**Result diagram.** The result diagram shows the quantified objectives as a benchmark line. This diagram drives the deeper analysis.

**Risk catalogue.** LASR uses a catalogue of standard risks. It comes from more than 100 earlier reviews.

**Evidence of effect.** A practice paper from ICSA 2026 reports on 75 independently conducted reviews. It says LASR gives actionable insights at modest effort.

## Example

A team of three developers owns a webshop. They book a half-day workshop and write a short mission statement. They pick two top qualities, such as fast checkout and high availability, and give each a number as its objective. Each person then rates the system against those objectives. The team discusses the biggest gaps in depth and notes the risks it finds.

## Trade-offs

LASR is lighter than ATAM, so it asks for less effort. It also relies on a small team and a short workshop. The facts here do not say how its depth compares with a full ATAM review.

The four LASR steps in order.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
  A[Lean mission statement] --> B[Evaluation criteria]
  B --> C[Risk-based review]
  C --> D[Quality-focused analysis]
```

## Checks

- The review states quantified objectives for the system's top quality attributes.
- The review names the most significant risks against those objectives.
- Controversial gaps between objectives and assessment are analyzed in depth.

## Related

- [Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM)](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/evaluation/architecture-tradeoff-analysis-method-atam.md)
- [Lightweight ATAM](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/evaluation/lightweight-atam.md)
- [Software Architecture Evaluation](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/evaluation/software-architecture-evaluation.md)
- [Quality Attribute](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/quality-attributes/quality-attribute.md)
- [Risk Storming](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/evaluation/risk-storming.md)
- [Advantages and Drawbacks of ATAM](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/evaluation/advantages-and-drawbacks-of-atam.md)
- [Quality Attribute Scenario](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/quality-attributes/quality-attribute-scenario.md)

## Sources

- [LASR - Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews](https://www.lasr-reviews.org/) — lasr-reviews.org, accessed 2026-11-09
- [LASR according to Toth/Zörner — Semantic Anchors](https://llm-coding.github.io/Semantic-Anchors/anchor/lasr/) — llm-coding.github.io, accessed 2026-11-09
- [Team-Driven Architecture Evaluation with LASR (ICSA 2026 - Software Architecture in Practice) - ICSA 2026](https://conf.researchr.org/details/icsa-2026/icsa-2026-software-architecture-in-practice-track/8/Team-Driven-Architecture-Evaluation-with-LASR) — conf.researchr.org, accessed 2026-11-09