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Selected:Fault IsolationFishbone DiagramArchitecture Decision RecordFailure Mode and Effects Analysis
| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects 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. | 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. | 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. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 30-60 min | 15-45 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-8 | 1-3 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | Root causeQualityOperations | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |