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| Criterion |  Operations A3 Problem Solving |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a complex deviation with several people involved, the method bundles problem, analysis, and decision onto one page. It creates a shared working space where causes, countermeasures, and follow-up fit together. | In technical failures, the visible symptom often gets mixed up with the actual cause. Fault Isolation narrows the fault space and progressively reduces which part of the system is truly affected. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 30-180 min | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-5 | 1-6 | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | A3 Report, Action Plan, Root Cause Analysis | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | LeanProblem solvingCoachingOperations | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |