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Criterion
Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Paper illustration of an assumption matrix with prioritized test cards
Decision Making
Assumption Surfacing
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Purposedifferent
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.Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it.When teams derive needs only from assumptions and real motives are missing, user interviews give direct access to behavior and meaning. Conversations from the target group's everyday life make patterns, tensions, and open questions solidly visible.
Complexitydifferent
HighLowLow
Timedifferent
2-6 h45-90 min30–60 min per interview
Participantsdifferent
3-102-81 participant per interview
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation ActionsAssumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning PlanInterview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary
Tagsno overlap
RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause
AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
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Often compared together

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

Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Paper illustration for Kepner-Tregoe
Operations
Kepner-Tregoe
Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving
Affinity Diagramming
UX Research
Affinity Diagramming