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Criterion
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
A 5 Whys working surface connects an observable problem with evidenced causes, marked uncertainty and concrete countermeasures with ownership.
Operations
5 Whys
Purposedifferent
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.LASR helps development teams identify where their software falls short of important quality goals and which improvements to consider. A small group with existing system knowledge can make an initial assessment and investigate open questions in more detail.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
LowMediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
30-60 min3–4 h for initial assessment; preparation and deeper analysis additional1-4 h15-30 min
Participantsdifferent
2-81 or a small team; particularly suitable for 3–4 people3-82-6
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation BacklogLean Mission Statement describing the software’s purpose, Prioritized quality goals and evaluation criteria, Risks and estimated gaps against quality goals, More closely examined findings and open checksProblem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action PlanRoot cause notes, Countermeasures
Tagsno overlap
Root causeQualityOperations
ArchitectureQualityRiskAssessmentLean
Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident
Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving
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