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| Criterion |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  DevOps Incident Timeline Analysis |  Product Discovery Smoke Test |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. | For an incident with an unclear sequence, the method makes the timeline precisely visible. It separates perception, reaction, and delay so cause and effect become more clearly readable. | When demand only needs to be roughly verified, it tests interest with minimal effort. It measures whether people would take a next step at all. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Medium | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 60-180 min | 1-5 Tage | 45-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 3-10 | Nutzertraffic | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Incident Timeline, Evidence Log, Delay Analysis, Improvement Actions | Interest Metrics, Conversion Signal, Learning Note | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking |
Tagsno overlap | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | IncidentTimelineSite Reliability Engineering | ValidationExperimentsDemandGrowth | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation |