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. Till now, most of the research around software architecture design decisions focused on capturing the design decisions. Typically, research papers focused on tracing, representing, capturing and modelling design decisions (see for example the proceedings of successive SHARK workshops).

The focus of the present workshop, MARCH, is on the process of making these design decisions. In this workshop, we seek to explore and understand the decision making process, how different factors influence the quality of software architecture decisions, and ways to assure good software architecture decision making. Decision making research is an emerging field in software engineering and software architecture. Applicable research papers that explore how to study decision making are relevant in this workshop. Understanding decision making process can be based on multiple scientific disciplines such as work and organizational psychology, cognitive psychology, behavioral economics, and human computer interaction. Therefore we encourage interdisciplinary research papers that leverage and build upon the existing knowledge in the neighboring research fields.