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Criterion
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Paper illustration for Argument Mapping
Decision Making
Argument Mapping
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Purposedifferent
An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable.When statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on.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
LowMediumMedium
Timedifferent
15-45 min1-3 h1-4 h
Participantsdifferent
1-31-83-8
Formatdifferent
AsyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
ADR File, Decision Log, RationaleArgument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision RationaleProblem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan
Tagsno overlap
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
SensemakingDecisionRationale
Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving
Paper illustration for Kepner-Tregoe
Operations
Kepner-Tregoe
Paper illustration of Request for Comments (RFC) with its method-specific working model.
Architecture
Request for Comments