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Criterion
Visual Management workspace showing the question, observations, and next decision.
Operations
Visual Management
Paper illustration for Change Analysis.
Operations
Change Analysis
Paper illustration with architecture components and concrete change tasks for comparison.
Architecture
SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)
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.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.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 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
LowMediumHighLow
Timedifferent
Ongoing45-120 minPreparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope30-60 min
Participantsdifferent
1-202-6Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting2-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Visual Board, Status Indicators, Exception CuesChange Matrix, Cause Hypotheses, Validation Questions, Action ListDomain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternativesFishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog
Tagsno overlap
SignalsOperationsVisual management
ChangeRoot causeTroubleshootingComparison
ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality
Root causeQualityOperations
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