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| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Business Strategy 5-Minuten VC-Check |  Architecture C4 Model |  Architecture arc42 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | The 5-Minute VC Check clarifies opportunities and strategic options at the earliest idea stage. It compares problem quality, customer willingness to pay, alternatives, differentiation, and market potential, and captures the result as a VC-check note, go/sharpen/park decision, and risk list. | The C4 Model makes a system legible across several resolution levels, from context down to code. It suits situations where different audiences need to understand the same architecture from different altitudes. | arc42 structures architecture knowledge so teams can document system, decisions, and risks consistently. The template builds a living understanding of the architecture instead of scattered notes. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 5-15 min | 1-4 h | 1-2 Tage |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 1-5 | 1-5 | 1-4 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | VC-check note, Go/sharpen/park decision, Risk and assumption list, Next validation step | Context Diagram, Container Diagram, Component Diagram | Architecture Document, Context View, Runtime View, Deployment View |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | StartupValidationCompetition | ArchitectureCommunicationVisualization | ArchitectureDocumentationCommunication |