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Criterion
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration for Current Reality Tree
Systems Thinking
Current Reality Tree
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Purposedifferent
In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.A Current Reality Tree condenses many symptoms into a few causal chains. The method makes visible which core problems drive several negative effects at once.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.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.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighHighHigh
Timedifferent
20–45 min2-6 hSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope2-6 h
Participantsdifferent
Small cross-functional group3-8Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders3-10
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Risk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logCurrent Reality Tree, Core Problems, Intervention IdeasPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsFMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions
Tagsno overlap
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
Systems thinkingRoot causeConstraintsCausality
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause
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