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| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Operations 5 Whys |  Architecture LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews) |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | 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 keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 15-30 min | 3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-6 | 1 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Lean 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 checks | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |