CSVLOD cheat sheet
Enterprise architecture on a page: six categories and 24 artifact types from Svyatoslav Kotusev's poster v1.2.
Use the two axes to place an architecture artifact: what it describes and how it describes it. CSVLOD stands for Considerations, Standards, Visions, Landscapes, Outlines and Designs.
Landscape, 297 × 167 mm. Free to read and download, with no sign-up.
Read the two axes
What Artifacts Describe? The columns are Rules, Structures and Changes, from generic to specific. How Artifacts Describe? The rows are Business-Focused and IT-Focused.
Business-Focused
Rules
Considerations
Organisation-wide principles and context that guide architecture decisions.
- Policies
- Principles
- Direction Statements
- Conceptual Data Models
- Analytical Reports
Structures
Visions
A shared business view for directing longer-term IT investment.
- Context Diagrams
- Value Chains
- Business Capability Models
- Target States
- Roadmaps
Changes
Outlines
Business-readable proposals for evaluating and funding specific initiatives.
- Initiative Proposals
- Options Assessments
- Solution Overviews
IT-Focused
Rules
Standards
Technical guidance and reusable approaches for consistent implementation.
- IT Principles
- Technology Reference Models
- Guidelines
- Logical Data Models
- Patterns
Structures
Landscapes
A technical overview of the existing IT estate and its evolution.
- Inventories
- Enterprise System Portfolios
- Landscape Diagrams
- IT Roadmaps
Changes
Designs
Technical specifications for teams implementing approved solutions.
- Preliminary Solution Designs
- Solution Designs
Use it as a reading aid
The taxonomy describes observed architecture practice. It is not a requirement to create every listed artifact, and this sheet does not reproduce the source poster's example diagrams or usage-frequency legend.
For a concrete application of the six perspectives, see the Acme architecture worked example. That example is a Transitrix interpretation of a fictional repository; this reference sheet preserves Kotusev's taxonomy without mapping it to Transitrix model types.
Sources and attribution
The taxonomy and artifact names are by Svyatoslav Kotusev. This is an independent Transitrix reference summary, not the author's original poster or an endorsement.
- Enterprise Architecture on a Page, v1.2 — the source for the names, groups and axes on this sheet.
- Enterprise Architecture on a Single Page — Kotusev's November 2017 BCS article explaining the poster.
The sheet summarises the named v1.2 poster, rather than later editions or every possible architecture artifact. Short category descriptions are paraphrased. Primary sources checked 21 October 2026.