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| Criterion | ![]() Operations Bottleneck Analysis | ![]() UX Research Contextual Inquiry | ![]() Product Strategy Counter Metrics |
|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For a flow that backs up at one point, the method looks for the capacity limit with the greatest leverage. It explains why extra effort elsewhere barely improves throughput. | When work processes are known only from accounts and the real context stays hidden, Contextual Inquiry makes behavior at the workplace visible. Observation and follow-up questions together show how people actually work, get interrupted, and improvise. | When a headline metric could mask side effects, it adds guardrail signals against unwanted outcomes. It connects customer value, product logic, and decision priorities. The result is captured as a counter-metric list and guardrail definitions. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-3 h | 1-3 Wochen | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 2-6 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Bottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up Measures | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Counter Metric List, Guardrail Definitions |
Tagsno overlap | FlowMeasurementConstraints | UX researchObservationContext | MetricsMeasurementStrategyExperiments |
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Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.






