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| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Tree 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. | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. | 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. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 15-45 min | 1-4 h | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 1-3 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality |