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| Criterion |  UX Research Contextual Inquiry |  Decision Making Constraint Analysis |  Operations ALPEN Method |  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. | When an initiative stalls, the limit often lies not in the idea but in hard or soft boundary conditions. Constraint Analysis separates these limits and shows which of them can actually be shaped. | With an overloaded day full of too many tasks, a realistic picture of the day emerges. The method connects estimating, deciding, and buffer thinking so planning fits available energy and time. | 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. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Low | Medium |
Timedifferent | 1-3 Wochen | 30-90 min | 10-20 min daily | 30-90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 4-12 Beobachtungen | 2-8 | 1 | 1-6 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Async | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Field Notes, Workflow Insights, Pain Points | Constraint List, Hard/Soft Classification, Option Impact Notes, Decision Boundaries | Daily Plan, Time Estimates, Review Notes | Decision Tree, Option Map, Assumption List |
Tagsno overlap | UX researchObservationContext | ConstraintsDecisionPlanningOptions | PlanningTime managementProductivityOperations | DecisionTreeOptions |