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Criterion
Paper illustration for Contextual Inquiry.
UX Research
Contextual Inquiry
Paper illustration of a Concept Map with concepts and labelled links
Knowledge Modeling
Concept Mapping
Paper fishbone diagram with a measurable effect at the head and six labeled cause branches.
Operations
Fishbone Diagram
Paper illustration for Kepner-Tregoe
Operations
Kepner-Tregoe
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.Concept Mapping arranges terms and relationships in a network that makes subject-matter connections tangible. It fits when a topic needs to be understood structurally rather than linearly.When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers.For a disturbance that's hard to pin down, the method cleanly separates problem, cause, and decision. It reduces mixing when symptoms allow several interpretations.
Complexitydifferent
MediumMediumLowHigh
Timedifferent
1-3 Wochen1-2 h30-60 min2-8 h
Participantsdifferent
4-12 Beobachtungen1-82-82-8
Formatdifferent
Workshop + asyncWorkshop + asyncWorkshopWorkshop + async
Outputdifferent
Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain PointsConcept Map, Relationship Labels, Knowledge GapsFishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation BacklogProblem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Risk Plan
Tagsno overlap
UX researchObservationContext
KnowledgeConceptsMappingSensemaking
Root causeQualityOperations
Problem solvingRoot causeDecisionOperations
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