# Trade-off Point

**In short:** A trade-off point is a property of the architecture that affects several quality attributes at once. Improving one attribute through it costs another. ATAM reports these points so teams can decide on a compromise knowingly.

## Explanation

A quality attribute is a property such as security or performance (see the article Quality Attribute). A sensitivity point is a property of a component, or of how components relate, that is critical for reaching one quality attribute response.

A trade-off point goes one step further. It is a property that affects more than one attribute. It is a sensitivity point for more than one of them.

The Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM) looks for these points. Its analysis covers trade-offs, sensitivity points, and risks or non-risks. A risk is a potentially problematic decision. A non-risk is a good decision that rests on assumptions, which are often left implicit. ATAM aims to select a suitable architecture by discovering trade-offs and sensitivity points.

The classic case is a virtual private network (VPN). Its confidentiality depends on the number of bits used for encryption. More bits improve security. They also cost processing time, which hurts performance.

For documentation, arc42 section 9 records important, expensive, large-scale or risky decisions with their rationale. Trade-offs belong there. The section asks for all consequences, negative ones too. That keeps the cost side of a trade-off visible. Section 11 lists technical risks and technical debts by priority. It can track the consequences of a trade-off the team accepted.

## Example

A team sets the encryption strength of a VPN link between two offices. A stronger setting protects data better. It also uses more processing time, so transfers slow down. The setting is a trade-off point for security and performance. The team writes the chosen strength into a decision record. The record names the security gain and the speed cost as consequences. The team also lists the remaining cost in the risk list.

## Trade-offs

A trade-off point has no free option. Every choice favors one attribute over another. The goal is a conscious compromise, not a perfect score. If the cost side goes unrecorded, later readers see only the benefit and may misjudge the decision.



## Checks

- Each trade-off decision is recorded in arc42 section 9 with its rationale.
- The recorded consequences list negative effects as well as positive ones.
- Accepted trade-off consequences are tracked in the prioritized risk and technical debt list in section 11.
- Each trade-off point names the quality attributes it is sensitive for, at least two.

## Related

- [Sensitivity Point](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/evaluation/sensitivity-point.md)
- [Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method (ATAM)](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/evaluation/architecture-tradeoff-analysis-method-atam.md)
- [ATAM Findings: Risks, Non-Risks, Sensitivity Points and Trade-off Points](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/evaluation/atam-findings-risks-non-risks-sensitivity-points-and-trade-offs.md)
- [Quality Attribute Trade-off](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/quality-attributes/architectural-trade-off-thinking.md)
- [Quality Attribute](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/quality-attributes/quality-attribute.md)
- [ATAM Non-Risk](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/evaluation/atam-non-risk.md)
- [arc42 Architecture Decisions](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/documentation/arc42-architecture-decisions.md)
- [Tactic Trade-off Balancing](https://arc.fuet.ch/concepts/tactics/tactic-trade-off-balancing.md)

## Sources

- [7 What Are the Outputs of an Architecture Evaluation? | Evaluating a Software Architecture | InformIT](https://www.informit.com:443/articles/article.aspx?p=24371&seqNum=8) — informit.com, accessed 2026-11-09
- [Architecture tradeoff analysis method - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architecture_tradeoff_analysis_method) — en.wikipedia.org, accessed 2026-11-09
- [9 - Architecture decisions | arc42 Documentation](https://docs.arc42.org/section-9/) — docs.arc42.org, accessed 2026-11-09
- [11 - Risks and technical debt | arc42 Documentation](https://docs.arc42.org/section-11/) — docs.arc42.org, accessed 2026-11-09