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| Criterion |  Systems Thinking Evaporating Cloud |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | The method makes visible why two seemingly incompatible demands arise and which assumption must be tested to resolve the conflict. | 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. | SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 60-120 min | 30-60 min | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | 2-8 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Conflict Cloud, Assumption List, Breakthrough Ideas, Next Experiments | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Domain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternatives |
Tagsno overlap | Theory of ConstraintsAssumptionsSystems thinking | Root causeQualityOperations | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality |
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