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Criterion
Paper illustration showing three sorted card stacks and an open question about a possible group.
UX Research
Card Sorting
Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Purposedifferent
When content only makes sense internally and users can't find the structure again, card sorting exposes their mental order. Terms, groups, and naming are then aligned with the target group's expectations.For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability.LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail.When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighMediumLow
Timedifferent
20-45 min2-6 h3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
Based on research question3-101 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people2-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Content groups, Label set, IA hypothesesFMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation ActionsLean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checksFishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog
Tagsno overlap
Information architectureNavigationStructure
RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
Root causeQualityOperations
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