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Selected:User InterviewsSAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)Root Cause AnalysisChange Analysis
| Criterion |  UX Research User Interviews |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Change 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. | 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 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. | 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 | Low | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30–60 min per interview | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 1-4 h | 45-120 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1 participant per interview | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 3-8 | 2-6 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Interview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary | 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 | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Change Matrix, Cause Hypotheses, Validation Questions, Action List |
Tagsno overlap | QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | ChangeRoot causeTroubleshootingComparison |