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| Criterion |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  UX Research User Interviews |  Operations 5 Whys |  Operations Change 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 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. | 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. | For a deviation after a change, the method isolates the influence of the altered condition. It narrows down which differences are relevant and which are just accompanying noise. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 30–60 min per interview | 15-30 min | 45-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 1 participant per interview | 2-6 | 2-6 |
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 | Interview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Change Matrix, Cause Hypotheses, Validation Questions, Action List |
Tagsno overlap | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | ChangeRoot causeTroubleshootingComparison |