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| Criterion |  Architecture arc42 |  Architecture Views and Beyond |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. | Views and Beyond organizes architecture into several views so no single diagram has to do everything at once. This makes it possible to choose the representation that fits the stakeholder's question. | 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 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 | Low | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-2 Tage | 1-3 Tage | 1-4 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-4 | 1-4 | 3-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View | Architecture Views, Cross-view Notes, Rationale | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication | DocumentationStakeholdersArchitecture | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |