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Criterion
Paper illustration for Design Studio
UX Design
Design Studio
Paper illustration for Fault Isolation.
Engineering
Fault Isolation
A 5 Whys working surface connects an observable problem with evidenced causes, marked uncertainty and concrete countermeasures with ownership.
Operations
5 Whys
Purposedifferent
When several designs need to be quickly put in relation to each other, it makes ideas visible and comparable. It encourages early variants instead of long upfront debates.In technical failures, the visible symptom often gets mixed up with the actual cause. Fault Isolation narrows the fault space and progressively reduces which part of the system is truly affected.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
MediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
1-3 h30-180 min15-30 min
Participantsdifferent
3-81-62-6
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Sketches, Concept Directions, Design DecisionsFault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault AreaRoot cause notes, Countermeasures
Tagsno overlap
SketchingCollaborationIdeation
TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering
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 for Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting.
Engineering
Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving