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| Criterion |  Product Strategy Impact Mapping |  Architecture Architecture Decision Record |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a goal needs to be connected to several possible paths, it shows chains of impact instead of feature lists. It connects business goal, behavior change, and measures. | An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable. | 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 problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 15-45 min | 1-4 h | 1-3 h |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 1-3 | 3-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Impact Map, Outcome Hypotheses, Delivery Options | ADR File, Decision Log, Rationale | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | OutcomesStrategyBehaviorPlanning | ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality |