Decision making in software architecture

Traditionally, software architecture is seen as the result of the software architecture design process, the solution, usually represented by a set of components and connectors. Recently, the why of the solution, the set of design decisions made by the software architect, is complementing or even replacing the solution-oriented definition of software architecture. This in turn leads to the study of the process of making these decisions. We outline some research directions that may help us understand and improve the software architecture design process.