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| Criterion |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Product Strategy ICE Scoring |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | 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. | When ideas need sorting quickly, it condenses impact, confidence, and effort into one compact score. It connects customer value, product logic, and decision priorities. The result is captured as an ICE table and top-ideas list. | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 30-60 min | 15-30 min | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 2-8 | 2-6 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Domain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternatives | ICE Table, Top Idea List | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | PrioritizationScoringGrowthDecision | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |