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| Criterion |  Facilitation Timeline |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Operations Change Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a project, incident, or change process is only remembered in fragments, Timeline brings the sequence back into a readable form. It makes turning points, precursors, and after-effects recognizable over the course of time. | 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. | 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. | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 30-90 min | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 45-120 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-12 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 2-6 | 3-10 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Timeline, Milestones, Insight Notes | 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 | Change Matrix, Cause Hypotheses, Validation Questions, Action List | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions |
Tagsno overlap | TimelineFacilitationSequence | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | ChangeRoot causeTroubleshootingComparison | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline |