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Criterion
Paper illustration of two people facing each other, speech bubbles and an open interview notebook.
UX Research
User Interviews
Paper illustration of two considered options leading to a decision record with a marked status and visible consequences.
Architecture
Architecture Decision Record
Paper illustration for Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Operations
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis
Purposedifferent
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.An ADR permanently records an architecture decision with context, trade-offs, and consequence. It creates continuity for later changes because the decision path stays traceable.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
LowLowHigh
Timedifferent
30–60 min per interview15-45 min2-6 h
Participantsdifferent
1 participant per interview1-33-10
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncAsyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Interview Notes, Themes, Insight SummaryADR File, Decision Log, RationaleFMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions
Tagsno overlap
QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery
ArchitectureRationaleDocumentationGovernance
RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Four paper stations connect system purpose, quality goals, risk cards and focused investigation with a target and gap profile.
Architecture
LASR (Lightweight Approach for Software Reviews)
Paper illustration for 8D Problem Solving.
Operations
8D Problem Solving