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Criterion
Paper illustration of Cost of Delay with its method-specific working model.
Delivery
Cost of Delay
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)
A 5 Whys working surface connects an observable problem with evidenced causes, marked uncertainty and concrete countermeasures with ownership.
Operations
5 Whys
Purposedifferent
Helps clarify scope, order, and delivery flow in concrete terms. It makes work, constraints, and sequence manageable. The result is captured as a Cost of Delay table and prioritization sequence.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.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
HighMediumLow
Timedifferent
90-180 min3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional15-30 min
Participantsdifferent
3-81 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people2-6
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
CoD Table, Prioritization SequenceLean 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 checksRoot cause notes, Countermeasures
Tagsno overlap
PrioritizationDeliveryEconomicsDecision
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of a calibrated five-by-five risk matrix with response cards.
Decision Making
Risk Matrix
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)