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Criterion
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
Paper illustration of Value Chain Analysis with its method-specific working model.
Business Strategy
Value Chain Analysis
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.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.Value Chain Analysis shows where value is created, costs accrue, and differentiation becomes possible along the process. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a value-chain map and lever list.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighHigh
Timedifferent
30-60 minPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scopeHalf day
Participantsdifferent
2-8Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting3-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation BacklogDomain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternativesValue Chain Map, Lever List
Tagsno overlap
Root causeQualityOperations
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
StrategyBusiness modelDiagnosisAnalysis
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Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration of Business Model Stress Test with its method-specific working model.
Business Strategy
Business Model Stress Test
Paper illustration for Change Analysis.
Operations
Change Analysis
Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Paper illustration of VRIO Framework with its method-specific working model.
Business Strategy
VRIO Framework