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| Criterion |  Product Discovery Context Canvas |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Operations PDCA Cycle |  Growth A/B Testing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When an environment of users, systems, and constraints is hard to grasp, it puts the context compactly on the table. It creates a clear reading of influence, boundary, and dependency. | 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. | For an improvement that still has to prove itself in everyday work, the method runs it through small learning loops. It connects planning, checking, and standardization into a repeatable learning mode. | When two variants compete, discussions quickly decide by taste rather than effect. A/B Testing checks behavior under controlled conditions and separates real improvement from chance or expectation effects. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | 1-3 Wochen | 1 h bis mehrere Wochen | 1-4 Wochen |
Participantsdifferent | 3-10 | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 1-8 | 1-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async |
Outputdifferent | Context canvas, Open questions, Shared context notes | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | PDCA Log, Experiment Plan, Learning Outcome, Standard Change | Experiment results, Decision log, Learning summary |
Tagsno overlap | ContextFramingRequirementsCanvas | UX researchObservationContext | Continuous improvementLeanExperiments | ExperimentsGrowthAnalyticsValidation |