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| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | 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. | ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation. | 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 | High | Low |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-4 h | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 3-8 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |