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Criterion
Process Mapping method illustration showing its working structure
Operations
Process Mapping
Design sheets and interface cards connect to jointly written pseudocode with highlighted unresolved questions.
Architecture
ARID (Active Reviews for Intermediate Designs)
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Purposedifferent
With a confusing workflow that has many handoffs, the method makes the actual process visible. It shows where work is passed on, delayed, or duplicated, so improvement targets the right spots.ARID examines how well developers can work with a technical design. It focuses on a part of the system that can still be revised, between the architecture overview and the detailed specification.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.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.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumMediumLow
Timedifferent
1-3 h2–4 h review as a planning range; preparation and evaluation additional1-4 h30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
3-10Designers, developers as users, and facilitation3-82-8
Formatdifferent
WorkshopWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Process Map, Handoff List, Improvement BacklogPrioritized development tasks, Jointly produced code or pseudocode, Observed difficulties and open design questions, Proposed design revisionsProblem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action PlanFishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog
Tagsno overlap
ProcessOperationsImprovement
ArchitectureEngineeringFeedbackValidationTasks
Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident
Root causeQualityOperations
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