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** '''Cushioning'''. The Paradigm is a softly cushioned shoe, though it takes a few miles from the initial firmness to wear off. This is common to most EVA foam.
** '''Drop & Shape'''. Like all Altra shoes, the Paradigm is zero drop, but this does not mean sole is flat. Instead, the thickness under the ball and heel is approximately the same but there is a little bit of rise under the arch. For my foot this is enough to provide a little extra medial support to the ball of the foot, but not so much that it pushes up on the arch of my foot which would cause problems. The Paradigm tapers gradually from the ball of the foot to the front, unlike Hoka which tends to have a rather more abrupt taper at the very front of the shoe. The very rear of the shoe is cut away slightly, which may reduce the chance of accidental heel strike. The midsole does wrap around the lower part of the foot to create some additional stability. This helps overcome some of the problems you get with a thick sole creating a stilt like instability.
** '''Structure'''. This shoe is made of a single type of foam, with which is painted at various levels to make the exception of the wrapper that extends above the level of the linershoe look a little less clunky. Thus there is no variation in foam density within the midsole to interfere with the movement of the foot on the ground.
** '''Flexibility'''. The Paradigm is reasonably flexible for shoe of this thickness. The shallow grooves cut into the sole do help a little. The flexibility tends to increase over the first few miles as the foam breaks down and softens.
* '''Outsole'''. The Paradigm has harder rubber over most of the contact surface of the sole. This reduces the wear on the outsole, but there are areas around the little toes that are exposed midsole which will wear more quickly. See the picture at the top right for more details.