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| Criterion |  Engineering Fault Isolation |  Innovation TRIZ |  Operations 5 Whys |  Innovation Contradiction 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 technical contradictions or trade-offs, the method looks for solutions that resolve opposing requirements at the same time. It translates limits into an explicit picture of conflict that becomes workable. This produces not just compromises but more elegant principles. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | When a system should improve while another measure suffers as a result, the method makes the underlying conflict precisely formulable. It separates the desired effect from its side effect. This makes solutions possible that address the contradiction deliberately instead of half-heartedly. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | High | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30-180 min | 1-4 h | 15-30 min | 60-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-6 | 2-8 | 2-6 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Fault Isolation Map, Test Log, Excluded Hypotheses, Narrowed Fault Area | Contradiction Statement, Inventive Principles, Solution Concepts | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Contradiction Statement, Abstraction Notes, Solution Principles, Concept Ideas |
Tagsno overlap | TroubleshootingDiagnosisEngineering | InnovationProblem solvingContradictionsCreativity | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | ContradictionsInnovationProblem solving |