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Selected:Fault IsolationFailure Mode and Effects AnalysisHypothesis-Driven TroubleshootingRoot Cause Analysis
| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |  Engineering Hypothesis-Driven Troubleshooting |  Operations Root Cause 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. | 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. | When systems fail unexpectedly, spontaneous attempts often produce more noise than insight. Hypothesis-driven Troubleshooting translates symptoms into testable assumptions and makes troubleshooting learnable. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 2-6 h | 30-240 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 3-10 | 1-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions | Hypothesis Log, Test Plan, Evidence Notes, Diagnosis Summary | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause | TroubleshootingProblem solvingDiagnosis | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |