Impact matrix
Also called: impact analysis
The analysis of which artifacts a change affects, which tests must be repeated and what must be re-approved.
The analysis of which artifacts a change affects, which tests must be repeated and what must be re-approved. In an executable architecture it is not written by hand: it is derived from the repository by querying which objects reference the one being changed.
It is only feasible when the relationships are declared. In a traceable repository the question of what a change affects is answered by query; without one it is answered from the memory of whoever has been there longest, which is where the surprises come from.