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| Criterion |  Operations 5 Whys |  Innovation Design Thinking |  Product Discovery Outcome-Driven Innovation |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a single, hard-to-explain deviation, the method exposes the causal chain behind the visible symptom. It keeps the cause open until a controllable condition emerges instead of a mere description. | For complex user problems with an uncertain cause, the method connects observation, interpretation, and experiment into a learning cycle. It keeps the focus on real needs and avoids premature solution language. This produces robust decisions for product and service. | Outcome-Driven Innovation clarifies customer problems, solution opportunities, and evidence. It separates jobs, desired outcomes, importance, satisfaction, and opportunity, and captures results as desired outcome statements, an opportunity landscape, and segments by underserved needs. | 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 | High | Medium |
Timedifferent | 15-30 min | 1 Tag bis mehrere Wochen | Mehrere Wochen | 1-4 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 4-10 | 2-6 researchers plus sample | 3-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Root cause notes, Countermeasures | Problem Statement, Prototype, Test Learnings | Desired outcome statements, Opportunity landscape, Segmentation by underserved needs, Innovation hypotheses | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan |
Tagsno overlap | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving | InnovationPrototypeResearch | OutcomesInnovationResearchQuantitative | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident |