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Selected:5 WhysARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)Root Cause Analysis
| Criterion | ![]() Operations 5 Whys | ![]() Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) | ![]() Architecture LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews) | ![]() Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification. | LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-30 min | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Lean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checks | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |



