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| Criterion |  Operations After-Action Review |  Agile Sprint Retrospective |  UX Research Customer Journey Mapping |  Agile 4Ls 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 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. | 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. | When a sprint should not only be assessed but also learned from, it captures experience in clear learning categories. It records what worked, what's missing, and what should run differently next time. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 20-45 min | Up to 3 hours for a one-month Sprint; shorter Sprints are usually shorter | 2-4 h | 45–75 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-12 | Scrum Team | 4-10 | Team members involved |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Lessons learned, Action items, Event summary | Improvement actions, Team agreements | Journey Map, Pain-point List, Opportunity Backlog | 4Ls Board, Learning Themes, Improvement Actions |
Tagsno overlap | LearningOperationsImprovement | RetrospectiveImprovementLearning | JourneyServiceService design | RetrospectiveLearningReflectionTeam |