methodatlas
Compare

View methods side by side.

Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.

Criterion
Paper illustration for Fault Isolation.
Engineering
Fault Isolation
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Paper illustration for Root Cause Tree 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.ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification.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.
Complexitysame
MediumMediumMediumMedium
Timedifferent
30-180 min2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional1-4 h1-3 h
Participantsdifferent
1-6Designers, developers as users, and facilitation3-82-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault AreaPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsProblem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action PlanCause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures
Tagsno overlap
TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident
Root causeTreeIncidentQuality
Add more methods