methodatlas
Compare

View methods side by side.

Choose up to four methods. Add them using the search and share the comparison by copying its link.

Criterion
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Paper illustration for Bottleneck Analysis.
Operations
Bottleneck Analysis
Decision Tree method illustration showing its working structure
Decision Making
Decision Tree
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.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.For decisions with follow-on paths and dependencies, a linear comparison is often not enough. A Decision Tree shows how options branch under conditions and which consequences hang on each branch.
Complexitysame
MediumMediumMedium
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen1-3 h30-90 min
Participantsdifferent
4-12 Beobachtungen3-81-6
Formatsame
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsBottleneck Map, Flow Metrics, Improvement Options, Follow-up MeasuresDecision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
FlowMeasurementConstraints
DecisionTreeOptions
Add more methods

Often compared together

Methods with strong topical overlap with the current selection, not yet in the comparison.

Paper illustration for Constraint Analysis.
Decision Making
Constraint Analysis
Paper illustration of HEART Framework with its method-specific working model.
UX Research
HEART Framework
Paper matrix with six colored hat cards for information, feeling, value, caution, ideas and process control.
Facilitation
Six Thinking Hats
Paper illustration for Theory of Constraints.
Operations
Theory of Constraints