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| Criterion |  Operations After-Action Review |  UX Research Customer Journey Mapping |  Operations Learning Review |  Agile Sprint Retrospective |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | After missions or project phases with unclear outcomes, the method makes visible what actually happened and what can be learned from it. It separates course, effect, and causes so experience turns into solid improvement. | When a user journey falls apart across many touchpoints, customer journey mapping makes the experience visible as a coherent arc. Phases, emotions, and breaks become legible enough to prioritize critical moments deliberately. | After a project phase with mixed results, the method makes learning from the individual case reusable. It connects events, decisions, and systemic conditions into robust insights. | When a sprint is over and friction shouldn't simply be carried forward, it opens the view onto collaboration and patterns. It creates space to see causes and changes together. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | 2-4 h | 1-3 h | Up to 3 hours for a one-month Sprint; shorter Sprints are usually shorter |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | 4-10 | 3-10 | Scrum Team |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | Journey Map, Pain-point List, Opportunity Backlog | Learning Review Notes, System Factors, Improvement Actions | Improvement actions, Team agreements |
Tagsno overlap | LearningOperationsImprovement | JourneyServiceService design | LearningRetrospectiveIncidentOperations | RetrospectiveImprovementLearning |