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| Criterion |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |  UX Research User Interviews |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations 5 Whys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | For an event with a complicated course, the method breaks down the contributing factors along the timeline. It shows how conditions, decisions, and reactions together produce a course of events. | When teams derive needs only from assumptions and real motives are missing, user interviews give direct access to behavior and meaning. Conversations from the target group's everyday life make patterns, tensions, and open questions solidly visible. | 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. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | High | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 2-6 h | 30–60 min per interview | 1-4 h | 15-30 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 1 participant per interview | 3-8 | 2-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions | Interview Notes, Themes, Insight Summary | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | Root cause notes, Countermeasures |
Tagsno overlap | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline | QualitativeResearchCustomerDiscovery | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | Root causeIncidentLeanProblem solving |