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Criterion
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Paper illustration for Argument Mapping
Decision Making
Argument Mapping
A hypothetical failure makes concrete risks, signals, and fitting mitigations visible.
Decision Making
Pre-Mortem
Paper illustration for Cynefin Workshop.
Decision Making
Cynefin Workshop
Purposedifferent
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 statements, evidence, and counterarguments get mixed up, a debate quickly loses its structure. Argument Mapping breaks a thesis down into its reasoning and makes visible what it really rests on.In early initiatives with many uncertainties, planning quickly turns too optimistic. A pre-mortem makes the expected failure visible in advance and sharpens the view of causes, gaps, and countermeasures.When problems are unclear, chaotic, or only seemingly familiar, standard recipes fall short. A Cynefin Workshop sorts situations by the nature of their problem and connects them with matching action logic.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumLowMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen1-3 h20–45 min60-180 min
Participantsdifferent
4-12 Beobachtungen1-8Small cross-functional group4-20
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsArgument Map, Evidence Gaps, Decision RationaleRisk list, Mitigation plan, Assumption logCynefin Map, Domain-specific Actions, Sensemaking Notes
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
SensemakingDecisionRationale
RiskDecisionFailurePlanning
ComplexitySensemakingDecision
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