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| Criterion |  Architecture ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs) |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations ALPEN Method |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | With an overloaded day full of too many tasks, a realistic picture of the day emerges. The method connects estimating, deciding, and buffer thinking so planning fits available energy and time. | 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 | Medium | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional | 15-30 min | 10-20 min daily | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | Designers, developers as users, and facilitation | 2-6 | 1 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Prioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisions | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Daily Plan, Time Estimates, Review Notes | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | PlanningTime managementProductivityOperations | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |