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Criterion
Paper illustration for Fault Isolation.
Engineering
Fault Isolation
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
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.SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumHighLow
Timedifferent
30-180 minPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
1-6Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting2-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault AreaDomain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternativesFishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog
Tagsno overlap
TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
Root causeQualityOperations
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for Change Analysis.
Operations
Change Analysis
Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)