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Criterion
Visual Management workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Operations
Visual Management
Paper illustration: scenarios and architectural decisions are connected to identified risks.
Architecture
ATAM (Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method)
Paper illustration for Root Cause Analysis.
Operations
Root Cause Analysis
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Purposedifferent
With high tempo and many parallel topics, the method makes status, deviations, and priorities visible at a glance. It reduces search effort and prevents what matters from getting lost in daily work.ATAM helps teams weigh architecture decisions when quality goals compete. The team considers business goals, stakeholder expectations, and technical decisions together. The evaluation shows which risks need further investigation.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.When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers.
Complexitydifferent
LowHighMediumLow
Timedifferent
OngoingSeveral meetings plus preparation and analysis; total effort depends on scope1-4 h30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
1-20Evaluation team, architects, and relevant stakeholders3-82-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Visual Board, Status Indicators, Exception CuesPrioritized quality scenarios in a utility tree, Architecture risks with reasoning and assumptions, Sensitivity and trade-off points, Findings report with open investigationsProblem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action PlanFishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog
Tagsno overlap
SignalsOperationsVisual management
ArchitectureQualityRiskTradeoffsStakeholders
Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident
Root causeQualityOperations
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