# Problem Management: Visual Architectures & Diagrams

**Document Purpose:** Visual representations of problem management concepts, flows, and relationships
**Date:** January 27, 2026

---

## 1. Complete Problem Management Lifecycle

```
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  PROBLEM MANAGEMENT LIFECYCLE                        │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

PHASE 1: DETECTION
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Source: Incidents (Reactive)  │  Source: Trends (Proactive)│
│  ↓                             │  ↓                         │
│  Service Desk reports issues   │  Trend analysis shows      │
│  Multiple incidents → Pattern  │  pattern in metrics        │
│  User escalates problem        │                            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            ↓
PHASE 2: CREATION & CLASSIFICATION
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Create Problem Record                                      │
│  ├─ Title, Description                                      │
│  ├─ Impact Assessment (Critical/High/Medium/Low)           │
│  ├─ Category Classification                                │
│  ├─ Initial Priority Assignment                            │
│  └─ Assign to Team                                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            ↓
PHASE 3: ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS (RCA)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Select RCA Method:                                        │
│  ├─ Simple Problem → 5 Whys (15-30 min)                   │
│  ├─ Multiple Causes → Fishbone (45-120 min)               │
│  ├─ Complex Decision → Kepner-Tregoe (2-4 hours)          │
│  ├─ Engineering Design → FMEA (4-8 hours)                │
│  └─ Portfolio → Pareto Analysis (30-60 min)              │
│                                                            │
│  Perform Analysis:                                        │
│  └─ Investigate underlying causes                         │
│  └─ Gather evidence and data                             │
│  └─ Document findings                                    │
│  └─ Achieve team consensus                               │
│  └─ Categorize root cause (Systematic/Human/Environmental)
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            ↓
                ┌───────────┴───────────┐
                ↓                       ↓
         Root Cause Found     Root Cause NOT Found
                ↓                       ↓
         Continue            Escalate/Defer Problem
                │                       │
PHASE 4: SOLUTION IDENTIFICATION
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Option A: Workaround Available                           │
│  ├─ Document workaround steps                             │
│  ├─ Deploy to Service Desk                                │
│  ├─ Apply to existing/new incidents                       │
│  └─ Plan permanent fix                                    │
│                                                            │
│  Option B: Permanent Fix Required                         │
│  ├─ Design solution                                       │
│  ├─ Create change management ticket                       │
│  ├─ Plan implementation                                   │
│  └─ Get approval before proceeding                        │
│                                                            │
│  Option C: Cannot Reproduce / By Design                   │
│  ├─ Document reasoning                                    │
│  └─ Close problem (mark as such)                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            ↓
PHASE 5: KNOWN ERROR CREATION
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Create Known Error Record (KEDB):                        │
│  ├─ Problem description                                   │
│  ├─ Root cause documented                                │
│  ├─ Workaround steps (if applicable)                     │
│  ├─ Detection criteria (symptoms, error messages)         │
│  ├─ Related incidents count                               │
│  └─ Link to permanent fix (if available)                 │
│                                                            │
│  Distribute to Organization:                             │
│  ├─ Service Desk trained on workaround                   │
│  ├─ Create searchable knowledge article                  │
│  ├─ Index by keywords and symptoms                       │
│  └─ Add to incident resolution templates                 │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            ↓
PHASE 6: IMPLEMENTATION (If Required)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Change Management Process:                               │
│  ├─ Create and review change ticket                      │
│  ├─ Get CAB approval                                      │
│  ├─ Schedule implementation window                        │
│  ├─ Execute change with rollback plan                   │
│  ├─ Verify fix resolves problem                         │
│  └─ Close related change                                 │
│                                                            │
│  Testing & Validation:                                   │
│  ├─ Reproduce original problem                          │
│  ├─ Verify solution resolves it                         │
│  ├─ Test for side effects                               │
│  ├─ Monitor system metrics                              │
│  └─ Verify related incidents resolved                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            ↓
PHASE 7: CLOSURE & DOCUMENTATION
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Problem Closure:                                         │
│  ├─ Verify all conditions met:                           │
│  │  ├─ Root cause identified                            │
│  │  ├─ Solution implemented/verified                    │
│  │  ├─ Knowledge article created                        │
│  │  └─ Related incidents resolved                       │
│  ├─ Problem review by manager                           │
│  ├─ Document resolution details                         │
│  └─ Set closed_date and closed_by                       │
│                                                            │
│  Organizational Learning:                                │
│  ├─ Knowledge Base updated                              │
│  ├─ Runbooks updated                                    │
│  ├─ Training materials updated (if needed)             │
│  ├─ Team retrospective (optional)                      │
│  └─ Metrics collected for trend analysis                │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                            ↓
PHASE 8: PREVENTION & CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Proactive Monitoring:                                    │
│  ├─ Detection rules added for similar issues             │
│  ├─ Alerts configured                                    │
│  └─ Incident prevention improved                         │
│                                                            │
│  Future Incident Resolution:                             │
│  ├─ When similar incident occurs                         │
│  ├─ Service Desk searches KEDB                           │
│  ├─ Known workaround applied immediately                │
│  ├─ Problem resolved faster (lower MTTR)               │
│  └─ ROI on RCA investment realized                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

                    [CYCLE REPEATS]
```

---

## 2. Problem Status State Machine Diagram

```
                    ┌─────────────────────────────┐
                    │    Problem Created (Open)    │
                    │  Priority & Impact Assigned  │
                    └──────────────┬──────────────┘
                                   │
              ┌────────────────────┴────────────────────┐
              │                                         │
              ↓                                         ↓
    ┌──────────────────────┐              ┌──────────────────────┐
    │ In Investigation     │              │ Closed (Cannot       │
    │ (RCA Underway)       │              │  Reproduce)          │
    │                      │              └──────────────────────┘
    │ • Assign to engineer │
    │ • Select RCA method  │
    │ • Investigate causes │
    └──────────┬───────────┘
               │
        ┌──────┴──────┐
        │             │
    [RCA Complete]   [Escalate/Defer]
        │             │
        ↓             ↓
    [Root Cause?]   [Deferred]
        │             │
    ┌───┴────┐        │
    │        └────────┼─────────→ [Monitor for recurrence]
    │                 │
    ↓                 ↓
[Has Solution?]   [Still Deferred?]
    │                 │
    ├─YES ───────────┬┴──→ [Decision Made]
    │                │        │
    │            ┌───┴────────┘
    │            ↓
    │    [Reopen & Continue]
    │
    ├─ Workaround  ───→ ┌──────────────────────┐
    │                   │ Pending Workaround   │
    │                   │ • Workaround deployed│
    │                   │ • Plan permanent fix │
    │                   └─────────┬────────────┘
    │                             │
    │                             ↓
    │                   ┌──────────────────────┐
    │                   │   Known Error        │
    │                   │ • Root cause         │
    │                   │ • Workaround OR fix  │
    │                   │ • In KEDB            │
    │                   └─────────┬────────────┘
    │                             │
    └─ Permanent Fix ────→ ┌──────┴────────────┐
                          │                   │
                          ↓                   ↓
                    [Create Change]    [Awaiting Fix]
                          │                   │
                          └───────┬───────────┘
                                  │
                          ┌───────┴──────────┐
                          ↓                  ↓
                     [Implement]      [Fix Deployed?]
                          │                  │
                          ├─ NO ─────────────┘
                          │
                          ├─ YES
                          │
                          ↓
                    [Verify Solution]
                          │
                    ┌─────┴─────┐
                    │           │
                [Works]    [Doesn't Work]
                    │           │
                    │           └──→ [Reopen Problem]
                    │                 [Resume Investigation]
                    │
                    ↓
         ┌──────────────────────┐
         │  Closed (Resolved)   │
         │ • Root cause found   │
         │ • Solution deployed  │
         │ • KB article created │
         │ • Learning captured  │
         └──────────────────────┘


Legend:
┌────────────┐  = State (rectangle box)
[Action]     = Activity/Trigger
─────→       = Valid transition
─╭─          = Branching decision
```

---

## 3. Problem-to-Incident-to-Solution Relationship

```
                    INCIDENT SYSTEM
          ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
          │  Incident 1: 502 Error          │
          │  User: john@company.com         │
          │  Time: 2024-01-20 09:15 AM     │
          │  Status: Resolved               │
          └──────────────┬──────────────────┘
                         │
                    ┌────┴──────┬──────────────────┐
                    │           │                  │
                    ↓           ↓                  ↓
          ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐
          │ Incident 2   │ │ Incident 3   │ │ Incident 4   │
          │ 502 Error    │ │ 502 Error    │ │ Timeout      │
          │ 2024-01-20   │ │ 2024-01-20   │ │ 2024-01-21   │
          └──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘ └──────┬───────┘
                 │                │                │
            [Pattern Detected: Similar symptoms in multiple incidents]
                 │                │                │
                 └────────────┬───┴────────────────┘
                              │
          ┌───────────────────┴────────────────────┐
          │  Create PROBLEM P-2024-0042            │
          │  "Database connection pool exhaustion" │
          │  Status: Open                          │
          │  Related Incidents: 1, 2, 3, 4        │
          │  Impact Level: High                    │
          │  Priority: High                        │
          └───────────────────┬────────────────────┘
                              │
          ┌───────────────────┴────────────────────┐
          │  Perform RCA using Fishbone Diagram    │
          │  Duration: 2 hours                     │
          │  Root Cause Found: max_connections=10 │
          │  Root Cause Category: Systematic       │
          └───────────────────┬────────────────────┘
                              │
          ┌───────────────────┴────────────────────┐
          │  Create KNOWN ERROR KE-2024-0015      │
          │  Description: Low pool max_connections│
          │  Workaround: Increase config value    │
          │  Permanent Fix: Implement dynamic     │
          │    sizing algorithm                   │
          └───────────────────┬────────────────────┘
                              │
          ┌───────────────────┴────────────────────────────┐
          │                                                │
          ↓                                                ↓
    ┌──────────────────────┐              ┌─────────────────────────┐
    │ DEPLOY WORKAROUND    │              │ PERMANENT FIX            │
    │ • Update config file │              │ • Design new algorithm  │
    │ • Restart services   │              │ • Create CHANGE-789     │
    │ • Incident 1 solved: │              │ • Get CAB approval      │
    │   2 min MTTR         │              │ • Implement             │
    │ • Incident 2 solved: │              │ • Deploy                │
    │   15 min MTTR        │              │ • Verify                │
    │ • Incident 3 solved: │              │ • Production stable     │
    │   12 min MTTR        │              │ • Close CHANGE-789      │
    │ • Incident 4 prevented│              └─────────────────────────┘
    │   (auto-resolved)    │
    └──────────────────────┘

          ┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
          │  Create KNOWLEDGE ARTICLE               │
          │  "How to resolve 502 errors from        │
          │   connection pool exhaustion"           │
          │  • Symptoms                             │
          │  • Root cause explanation               │
          │  • Workaround steps                     │
          │  • Permanent fix details                │
          │  • Keywords: pool, connection, 502     │
          └──────────────┬──────────────────────────┘
                         │
          ┌──────────────┴──────────────────────────┐
          │  ORGANIZATION LEARNS                    │
          │  Future Incidents:                      │
          │  • Service Desk searches KB             │
          │  • Finds known solution immediately    │
          │  • Applies workaround in <1 min         │
          │  • Incident resolved vs. problem        │
          │    investigated                        │
          │  • MTTR reduced from hours to minutes   │
          │  • Customer satisfaction improved       │
          │  • Revenue impact eliminated            │
          └──────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

---

## 4. RCA Method Selection Flowchart

```
                      Problem Identified
                            │
                ┌───────────┴────────────┐
                │                        │
        Can describe        Cannot describe
        cause chain?        relationships?
            │                    │
           YES                   NO
            │                    │
            ↓                    │
        Root Cause              │
        Obvious?                │
            │                    │
        ┌───┴───┐                │
        │       │                │
       NO      YES               │
        │       │                │
        │       └──→ 5 Whys ◄────┘
        │         (15-30 min)
        │
        ↓
    How many potential
    root causes?
        │
    ┌───┼───┬───┐
    │   │   │   │
    1-3 4-8  9+ Complex
    │   │    │  relationships?
    │   │    │       │
    │   │    │    YES/NO
    │   │    │       │
    │   │    └──┬────┘
    │   │       │
    │   │       ↓
    │   │   Kepner-Tregoe
    │   │   Analysis
    │   │   (2-4 hours)
    │   │   [For complex
    │   │    decisions]
    │   │
    │   ↓
    │ Fishbone Diagram
    │ (45-120 min)
    │ [Systematic
    │  exploration]
    │
    ↓
5 Whys
(15-30 min)
[Linear cause chain]


Additional Considerations:
├─ Safety Critical System?
│  └─ Use FMEA (4-8 hours)
│     [Rigorous, systematic]
│
├─ Need to Prioritize?
│  └─ Use Pareto Analysis (30-60 min)
│     [80/20 rule application]
│
├─ Team Expert Available?
│  └─ Consider Kepner-Tregoe
│     [Structured reasoning]
│
├─ Time Pressure (Critical)?
│  └─ Use 5 Whys
│     [Quick diagnosis]
│
└─ Multiple Team Perspective?
   └─ Use Fishbone
      [Collaborative brainstorm]
```

---

## 5. Problem Management System Architecture

```
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   USER INTERFACE LAYER                          │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐│
│  │ Problem Dashboard│  │ Problem List View│  │ Problem Detail││
│  │ • Critical count │  │ • Filterable     │  │ • Full history││
│  │ • Trends         │  │ • Sortable       │  │ • RCA details ││
│  │ • KPIs           │  │ • Bulk actions   │  │ • Comments    ││
│  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────┘│
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐│
│  │ RCA Workflow     │  │ Known Error DB   │  │ Knowledge    ││
│  │ • 5 Whys tool   │  │ • Search/browse  │  │ • Articles   ││
│  │ • Fishbone      │  │ • Workarounds    │  │ • Workrounds ││
│  │ • Kepner-Tregoe │  │ • Solutions      │  │ • Solutions  ││
│  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────┘│
│                                                                │
└────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │
┌────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   API LAYER (REST/GraphQL)                     │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                │
│  GET/POST/PUT/DELETE /problems                               │
│  GET/POST /problems/:id/rca                                  │
│  GET/POST /problems/:id/known-errors                         │
│  POST /problems/:id/status-transition                        │
│  GET /known-errors/search                                    │
│  POST /problems/:id/comments                                 │
│                                                                │
└────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │
┌────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              APPLICATION LOGIC LAYER                           │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐│
│  │ Problem Manager  │  │ RCA Engine       │  │ State Manager││
│  │ • CRUD ops       │  │ • Method logic   │  │ • Transitions││
│  │ • Validation     │  │ • Analysis tools │  │ • Constraints││
│  │ • Classification │  │ • Recommendations│  │ • Audit trail││
│  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────┘│
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐│
│  │ KnownError Mgr   │  │ Relationship Mgr │  │ Notification ││
│  │ • KEDB ops       │  │ • Link tracking  │  │ • Email      ││
│  │ • Search index   │  │ • Dependencies   │  │ • Slack      ││
│  │ • Distribution   │  │ • Related items  │  │ • Webhooks   ││
│  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────┘│
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│  │ Business Rules Engine                                    │ │
│  │ • Auto-prioritization rules                             │ │
│  │ • Escalation rules                                      │ │
│  │ • SLA enforcement                                       │ │
│  │ • Assignment rules                                      │ │
│  └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│                                                                │
└────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │
┌────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────┐
│            INTEGRATION LAYER (External Systems)                │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐│
│  │ Incident System  │  │ Change Mgmt      │  │ Knowledge    ││
│  │ • Create problem │  │ • Track changes  │  │ • Create KB  ││
│  │   from incident  │  │ • Link to problem│  │ • Link KEDB  ││
│  │ • Link incidents │  │ • Approve fixes  │  │ • Search     ││
│  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────┘│
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐│
│  │ Ticket System    │  │ Monitoring       │  │ CMDB         ││
│  │ • Support access │  │ • Alert triggers │  │ • CI mapping ││
│  │ • Resolution info│  │ • Trend analysis │  │ • Affected   ││
│  │ • Escalation    │  │ • Metrics export │  │   systems    ││
│  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────┘│
│                                                                │
└────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────────────┘
                     │
┌────────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   DATA PERSISTENCE LAYER                       │
├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐│
│  │ Problems Table   │  │ RCA Details      │  │ Known Errors ││
│  │ • All fields     │  │ • Method-specific│  │ • KEDB       ││
│  │ • Status history │  │   data           │  │ • Workarounds││
│  │ • Relationships  │  │ • Findings       │  │ • Solutions  ││
│  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────┘│
│                                                                │
│  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐│
│  │ Audit Logs       │  │ Search Index     │  │ Cache Layer  ││
│  │ • All changes    │  │ • Full text      │  │ • Redis      ││
│  │ • Who/when/why   │  │ • Filters        │  │ • Dashboard  ││
│  │ • Rollback data  │  │ • Facets         │  │ • Hot data   ││
│  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────────┘  └──────────────┘│
│                                                                │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

---

## 6. Problem Classification Taxonomy

```
                        PROBLEM
                          │
        ┌─────────────────┼──────────────────┬─────────────────┐
        │                 │                  │                 │
        ↓                 ↓                  ↓                 ↓
    SOFTWARE          INFRASTRUCTURE      PROCESS           EXTERNAL
        │                 │                  │                 │
    ┌───┴────┐         ┌──┴──┐           ┌──┴──┐          ┌──┴──┐
    │    │    │         │     │           │     │          │     │
   App  Data Config   Infra  Sec       Proc  Training   Vendor Support
    │    │    │         │     │           │     │          │     │
    │    │    │         │     │           │     │          │     │
  Bug  Corrupt Settings Server Breach Proc  Doc Gap  Dep  Tool Issue
  |    |      |         |      |        Gap  |       |      |
 Mem  Data    Wrong     Network Auth    Rollback Skills Outage Bug
 Leak Incon   Creds    Down    Issue           |           |
                                         Training
                                         Gap


Impact Classification:
├─ CRITICAL
│  └─ >50% users affected
│  └─ Core revenue function down
│  └─ Multiple systems affected
│
├─ HIGH
│  └─ 25-50% users affected
│  └─ Major feature down
│  └─ Single system significantly affected
│
├─ MEDIUM
│  └─ 5-25% users affected
│  └─ Feature degraded (not down)
│  └─ Limited system scope
│
└─ LOW
   └─ <5% users affected
   └─ Minor feature issue
   └─ Workaround available
```

---

## 7. Known Error Database (KEDB) Integration Flow

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Problem in "Known Error" State      │
│ • Root cause identified             │
│ • RCA completed                     │
│ • Solution available (workaround    │
│   or permanent fix)                 │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────┘
               │
               ↓
    ┌──────────────────────┐
    │ Create Known Error   │
    │ Record (KEDB Entry)  │
    │ • KE-2024-0015       │
    │ • Description        │
    │ • Root cause         │
    │ • Symptoms/detection │
    │ • Workaround details │
    │ • Permanent fix info │
    └──────────┬───────────┘
               │
               ↓
    ┌──────────────────────┐
    │ Create Knowledge     │
    │ Base Article         │
    │ • Searchable title   │
    │ • Full description   │
    │ • Step-by-step       │
    │   workaround        │
    │ • FAQ section       │
    │ • Related articles  │
    └──────────┬───────────┘
               │
               ↓
    ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
    │ Index & Distribute               │
    │ • Add to KEDB search             │
    │ • Notify Service Desk teams      │
    │ • Link to incident templates     │
    │ • Add to Slack/Teams bot         │
    │ • Export to mobile app           │
    └──────────┬───────────────────────┘
               │
        ┌──────┴──────┐
        │             │
        ↓             ↓
    NEW INCIDENT   FUTURE INCIDENT
        │             │
    [No KEDB Hit]  [KEDB Hit!]
        │             │
        ↓             ↓
    Create Problem  Search Results
        │          Show Solution
    Investigate      │
        │            ↓
        │       Apply Workaround
        │       • Copy solution text
        │       • Execute steps
        │       • Resolve in <2 min
        │       • MTTR: 2 min vs. 4 hours
        │
        └──────→ Close Incident
                (Both paths lead to resolution)


VALUE DELIVERED:
├─ Service Desk
│  └─ Immediate solutions available
│  └─ Faster incident resolution
│  └─ Improved customer satisfaction
│
├─ Support Organization
│  └─ Institutional memory captured
│  └─ Best practices shared
│  └─ Training material available
│
├─ Customers
│  └─ Faster issue resolution
│  └─ Self-service options available
│  └─ Improved product reliability
│
└─ Business
   └─ Reduced MTTR → Revenue impact minimized
   └─ Incident prevention → Cost savings
   └─ Knowledge asset → Organizational value
```

---

## 8. RCA Team Swimlanes: Fishbone Diagram Workshop

```
┌──────────────┬───────────────────┬──────────────┬────────────────┐
│ Facilitator  │ Technical Lead    │ Team Members │ Knowledge Mgr  │
├──────────────┼───────────────────┼──────────────┼────────────────┤
│              │                   │              │                │
│ 00:00 Setup  │ System Access     │ Arrive Early │ Take Notes     │
│ • Whiteboard │ • Prepare logs    │ • Coffee     │ • Photos       │
│ • Markers    │ • Alert review    │ • Notebooks  │ • Highlights   │
│ • Timer      │ • Metrics ready   │              │                │
│              │                   │              │                │
│ 00:05 Intro  │ Context Setting   │ Understand   │ Document       │
│ • Problem    │ • "This is not    │ Context      │ • Problem      │
│   review     │   blame"          │ • Timeline   │   statement    │
│ • Scope      │ • "Together we    │ • Systems    │ • Participants │
│ • Timeline   │   improve"        │              │                │
│              │                   │              │                │
│ 00:15 Draw   │ Build Diagram     │ Brainstorm   │ Organize       │
│ Fishbone     │ • Root: problem   │ Causes:      │ • Ask clarify  │
│ Structure    │ • Draw 6 M bones  │ • In their   │   questions    │
│ • 6 M's      │ • Label Manpower  │   domain     │ • Group by     │
│ • Time-boxed │ • Methods         │ • Multiple   │   category     │
│              │ • Materials       │   perspectives│ • Dig deeper   │
│              │ • Machines        │ • Sub-causes │   (5 levels)   │
│              │ • Measurement     │              │                │
│              │ • Environment     │              │                │
│              │                   │              │                │
│ 01:00 Cluster│ Find Patterns     │ Vote on      │ Test Logic     │
│ • Group like │ • Connect related │ Likely       │ • "Does this   │
│   causes     │   causes          │ Causes       │   make sense?" │
│ • Find links │ • Eliminate       │ • Dot voting │ • Challenge    │
│              │   redundancies    │ • Reach      │   assumptions  │
│              │ • 5-7 major       │   consensus  │                │
│              │   causes likely   │              │                │
│              │                   │              │                │
│ 01:30 Close  │ Root Cause Test   │ Acceptance   │ Final Notes    │
│ • Agree on   │ • "If we fix      │ • Confidence │ • Capture      │
│   conclusion │   this, problem   │ • "Are we    │   diagram      │
│ • Next steps │   resolves?"      │   confident?"│ • Follow-up    │
│ • Timeline   │ • Verify against  │ • Hands up   │   items        │
│              │   facts           │   vote       │ • Create KB    │
│              │                   │              │   outline      │
│              │                   │              │                │
└──────────────┴───────────────────┴──────────────┴────────────────┘

Duration: 1.5-2 hours | Outcome: Documented root cause | Follow-up: Knowledge article
```

---

## 9. Dashboard Metric Relationships

```
                        BUSINESS IMPACT
                              │
                    ┌─────────┼─────────┐
                    │         │         │
                    ↓         ↓         ↓
            Revenue Impact  Customer   Operational
            Minimized       Satisfaction Cost
                    │         │         │
                    └─────────┼─────────┘
                              │
                    ┌─────────┴─────────┐
                    │                   │
                    ↓                   ↓
            Problem Resolution   Prevention Success
            Speed (MTTR)         Rate (% Prevented)
                    │                   │
                    │        ┌──────────┘
                    │        │
                    ├────┬───┴──┐
                    │    │      │
            ┌───────┴─┐  │      │
            │         │  │      │
            ↓         ↓  ↓      ↓
        RCA Speed  KEDB  Incident  Detection
        (Time)    Coverage Reduction Alerts
                    │        │       │
            ┌───────┼────────┼───────┘
            │       │        │
            ↓       ↓        ↓
        Problem  Known   Monitoring
        Quality  Errors   Rules
            │       │        │
            └───────┼────────┘
                    │
                    ↓
            [CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT]
            ├─ Team Training
            ├─ Process Optimization
            ├─ Tool Enhancement
            └─ Best Practice Sharing


Correlation Matrix:

│ Metric 1       │ Metric 2             │ Relationship
├────────────────┼──────────────────────┼─────────────────────────
│ RCA Completion │ Root Cause Found %   │ Strong (+)
│ KEDB Coverage  │ Similar Incident %   │ Strong (+)
│ Time to RCA    │ Problem Resolution   │ Strong (-)
│                │ Speed (MTTR)         │
│ Workaround     │ Time to Resolution   │ Strong (-)
│ Available      │ for New Incidents    │
│ Detection      │ Problem Prevention   │ Strong (+)
│ Rules          │ Rate                 │
│ Team Training  │ False Positive RCA   │ Strong (-)
│                │ Rate                 │
```

---

## 10. Implementation Phasing Gantt Chart

```
PROBLEM MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE

Phase 1: MVP (4 weeks)
├─ Week 1-2: Planning & Design
│  ├──[████]── Entity schema design
│  ├──[████]── Database modeling
│  └──[████]── API endpoint planning
│
├─ Week 3-4: Development
│  ├──[████]── Problem CRUD
│  ├──[████]── Basic status workflow
│  ├──[████]── Role-based access
│  └──[████]── Unit testing

Phase 2: Enhanced Features (3 weeks)
├─ Week 5-6: Classification & Filtering
│  ├──[████]── Category/priority fields
│  ├──[████]── Filter UI components
│  └──[████]── Advanced search

├─ Week 7: Testing & Polish
│  ├──[████]── Integration testing
│  └──[████]── Performance tuning

Phase 3: RCA Integration (3 weeks)
├─ Week 8: RCA Tools
│  ├──[████]── 5 Whys implementation
│  ├──[████]── Fishbone builder
│  └──[████]── Kepner-Tregoe framework

├─ Week 9-10: RCA Workflow
│  ├──[████]── RCA status tracking
│  ├──[████]── Root cause linking
│  └──[████]── Validation rules

Phase 4: Knowledge Integration (2 weeks)
├─ Week 11: KEDB Setup
│  ├──[████]── Known Error entity
│  ├──[████]── KEDB search
│  └──[████]── Integration APIs

├─ Week 12: Knowledge Linking
│  ├──[████]── Problem → KB mapping
│  └──[████]── Workaround distribution

Phase 5: Analytics & Dashboards (2 weeks)
├─ Week 13: Dashboard Development
│  ├──[████]── Metric queries
│  ├──[████]── Chart components
│  └──[████]── Real-time updates

├─ Week 14: Optimization
│  ├──[████]── Query optimization
│  └──[████]── Caching strategy

Phase 6: Launch & Iteration (1 week)
├─ Week 15: Production Deployment
│  ├──[████]── Staging validation
│  ├──[████]── Go-live
│  ├──[████]── Monitoring setup
│  └──[████]── User support

                    │
                    ↓
            [4 Weeks] [3 Weeks] [3 Weeks] [2 Weeks] [2 Weeks] [1 Week]
            ├─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼─────────┼────────
            MVP    Enhanced    RCA    Knowledge Analytics  Launch
                             Tools   Integration            Ready
```

---

**Document Version:** 1.0
**Last Updated:** January 27, 2026
**Status:** Visual Guide Complete

For implementation details, see:
- `PROBLEM_MANAGEMENT_RESEARCH.md` - Comprehensive research
- `PROBLEM_ENTITY_PATTERNS.md` - Code examples
- `PROBLEM_MANAGEMENT_QUICK_REFERENCE.md` - Quick checklist
