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| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Architecture ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method) |  Architecture Risk Storming |  Product Discovery Assumption Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation. | Helps clarify architecture context, options, and consequences in concrete terms. It organizes technical context, alternatives, and consequences. The result is captured as an Annotated Diagram, a Prioritized Risk List, and an Action Backlog. | When assumptions still sit unordered in the room, it weighs uncertainty against leverage. It makes visible which hypotheses should be checked first. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | Several meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope | 60-90 min | 45-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders | 4-12 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Prioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigations | Annotated Diagram, Prioritized Risk List, Action Backlog | Assumption map, Test backlog, Risk ranking |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders | RiskArchitectureWorkshopValidation | AssumptionsRiskExperimentsValidation |