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| Criterion |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  DevOps Blameless Postmortem |  DevOps Incident Timeline Analysis |  Operations Causal Factor Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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. | After an incident with damage or a near miss, the method creates a sober field for learning without assigning blame. It directs attention to the course of events, conditions, and effective countermeasures. | For an incident with an unclear sequence, the method makes the timeline precisely visible. It separates perception, reaction, and delay so cause and effect become more clearly readable. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Medium | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen | 30-90 min | 60-180 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 3-12 | 3-10 | 3-10 |
Formatsame | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Postmortem Doc, Action Items, Timeline | Incident Timeline, Evidence Log, Delay Analysis, Improvement Actions | Event Timeline, Causal Factor Chart, Cause List, Corrective Actions |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchObservationContext | Site Reliability EngineeringIncidentLearningReliability | IncidentTimelineSite Reliability Engineering | CausalityIncidentRoot causeTimeline |