hypothesis-generation

Root cause diagnosis uses a structured form-test-refute loop: formulate testable hypotheses as "if X then Y" statements, rank by likelihood, design concrete tests to validate or falsify each, and document findings. This repeatable workflow identifies underlying causes across code, configuration, infrastructure, and processes.

Test design prioritizes quick, reversible validation steps. Propose 3 plausible causes, rank by evidence strength, then design one concrete test per hypothesis that can confirm or rule out each cause without disrupting production or leaving side effects.

A diagnostic workflow follows eight phases: Understand the failure, Gather logs and context, Hypothesize root causes, Design tests, Test hypotheses, Identify the true cause, Verify the fix, and Document results. This auditable process scales across development, QA, and production environments.

Yes. Combine 5-whys exploration with evidence-based ranking to narrow suspects quickly. Formulate each layer as a testable hypothesis, prioritize by likelihood, then design tests for the highest-confidence candidates first to resolve failures efficiently.

Hypothesis-driven diagnosis addresses errors, wrong outputs, performance degradation, intermittent issues, and process failures across software code, configuration, infrastructure, and business processes. It works in development, QA, and production with tool-assisted analysis like log analysis and reproduction case generation.