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Selected:Architecture Decision RecordOutcome-Driven InnovationRoot Cause AnalysisRoot Cause Tree Analysis
| Criterion |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Product Discovery Outcome-Driven Innovation |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Tree 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. | Outcome-Driven Innovation clarifies customer problems, solution opportunities, and evidence. It separates jobs, desired outcomes, importance, satisfaction, and opportunity, and captures results as desired outcome statements, an opportunity landscape, and segments by underserved needs. | 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. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | Mehrere Wochen | 1-4 h | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-3 | 2-6 researchers plus sample | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Desired outcome statements, Opportunity landscape, Segmentation by underserved needs, Innovation hypotheses | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | OutcomesInnovationResearchQuantitative | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality |