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Selected:User InterviewsSAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)Root Cause Tree AnalysisRoot Cause Analysis
| Criterion |  UX Research User Interviews |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Operations Root Cause Tree Analysis |  Operations Root Cause 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. | For a problem with several suspected causes, the method builds a causal structure instead of a mere list. It makes visible how causes connect and where the strongest points of leverage lie. | 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 | Low | High | Medium | Medium |
Timedifferent | 30–60 min per interview | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 1-3 h | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 1 participant per interview | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 2-8 | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | 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 | Cause Tree, Evidence Notes, Countermeasures | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | Root causeTreeIncidentQuality | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |